Nate Day
We all crave our own space. A place to get away. A place that isn’t invaded by others, by other issues, other memories. A place with a clean slate to call our own and to escape to so we can process everything we’ve had to deal with throughout the day. Sometimes a quiet place to rest or just read a book.
Growing up, I never realized that there could be so much satisfaction in being a father. Not just in having children, but in having someone you simply want to take care of and make happy. Having someone right in front of you that just takes you back in time, to when you were also a child, to when you hopped through a bounce house and sprung around trampolines and thought the world was endlessly vast. I didn’t know that being a father meant both being selfless, and also indulging in someone else’s joy.
There were few things I was sure of as a small child growing up in Southern California. One, I loved dogs. I always knew I wanted one and after watching All Dogs Go To Heaven, I knew I had to have a German Shepherd when I grew up.
When I was a kid, one of the coolest sets of lyrics to be put to a dope beat was “jump up, jump up, and get down.” The song “Jump Around” by House of Pain included the word “jump” approximately 94 times which, coincidentally, is about how many jumps I have to do to get a full workout. Working up a sweat as an adult is SO much easier than it was when I was a kid, so our son’s trampoline birthday party recently doubled as my gym visit for the day and his celebration. Score!
Getting out and exploring the world is definitely something we identify with. We live for wide open spaces, trees, mountains and streams. It’s all part of our life plan. So much so, in fact, that Chelsea and I recently invested in something to keep us out in the wilds for longer than normal. After a few years of sleeping in a tent, then in the back of the truck, then in a tent on top of the truck (which is still fun), we gave each other permission and bought a 37-foot trailer RV. Specifically, we bought a “toy hauler,” so we have extra space in the back to make the boys a room and to tote toys around. First on our list of upgrades was a new RV mattress – and here’s why.
So, a few months back, Chelsea and I were perusing a blogging conference and ran in to some of the great people from Kidde. I was excited to speak with them and was stoked when they reached back out to us last month and asked if we could talk about Kidde carbon monoxide alarms. Despite the fact that we’ve been a Kidde family for…well…as long as I can remember, they still sent over a plug-in CO alarm. I’ll talk about that later, though.
Chelsea and I met at college in Los Angeles, but in our six years at UCLA we never made it to the epic Hollywood Sign hike. The internet wasn’t as flush with advice back then. Every time we tried asking around about how to get that epic picture, we were given conflicting instructions. We were told that the Hollywood Sign hike required a journey through private property, or it was closed, or it was painfully difficult. Thirteen years later, we decided to finally decipher this trek – with four kids along for the ride. Just like Indiana Jones and his lesser known tale, The Toddlers of Hollywood Hill.
They say being prepared is half the battle. Having what you need when you need it makes future issues a lot easier to get through. In my case, preparation is a REALLY important half. It allows to quick execution of my plans. After all, I’m a pragmatist and I’ve learned over time to buy, keep, and take care of the things I actually need.
Oh, have the times changed! Nowadays, men are allowed to be more expressive. They can share their true thoughts and aren’t expected to bottle up how they feel. They also aren’t expected to live a life of solitude or to want to have guys night anymore. Or go ‘bowling with the fellas.’
Our imagination truly is one of the greatest driving forces in our lives. It conjures, creates, augments, stores, and helps us feel the intangible. All things past, present, and future can be toyed and tinkered through our imagination’s fancy. It can be born of nothing at all, almost suspended in the ether or rooted in something inspirational. Standing in the here and now, our imagination can take us to a whole other place and time. Oh a South Dakota road trip. All with just a little thought.