40 Greatest Influences of the last 40 years #3 My Sons

The 40 greatest Influences of the last 40 years is a weekly countdown to my 40th Birthday in which I wax poetic about the people places and things that have shaped me into, for better or worse, the man I am today.
Today’s great influence is......

Aeneas and Tiberius

Long story short is the themes of this post.
My 2 sons are all I ever talk about with my wife. All I ever talk about with family. All I ever talk about with coworkers at work, that isn’t work related. So why drone on about them now, when I can treat them like the celebrity posts in here and just post a bunch of pics and clips? So....

Long story short....My wife and I lost several pregnancies early to miscarriage, and we were 9 years into our marriage before we had our first child. We had planned on having more children but we got a much later start than we had planned. So...

Long story short... I often feel more like a grandpa to my boys than a father. I feel out of the loop as far as what is cool, and what kids like these days. And unlike a parent who thinks they are still cool, I know I am over the hill. I do have a semi-irrational fear that by the time my kids are playing sports I will have degenerative arthritis and be wheelchair bound. Remember my dad passed away from cancer at 48 years old. So....

Long story short....I have mixed feeling about fatherhood. On the one hand I am eager and impatient to teach my sons everything I know and try to groom and prepare them to be successful young men as soon as possible. (I am a boy dad and not a “girl dad” which I think is a whole different Oedipal ball game). On the other hand I really profile as more of a “hipster uncle” that pops in and spoils their nieces and nephews, gives them advice their parents would never tell them and then disappears long enough to be missed before triumphantly reappearing (this is kind of what it has been like given my work schedule the past year). I don’t relish being a father the way other fathers I know seem to. It’s a responsibility I take much too seriously because....

Long story short....these guys just want to have fun!!!

When I look at my boys I tend to see nothing but their mother. They are much more hyperactive and strong willed than their quiet contemplative father. They rock long straight silky hair and love all things puzzles, board games and painting just like their mother. They are not really into sports, building junk art or performing like their father. However....


Long story short.... according to my wife, who is the only one to have cut the hair of all 3 of us; She insists that incredibly we all three have the exact same Hair pattern. Our hair all lays at the exact same angles and has the same spiraling cowlicks that have plagued me for years. Luckily they have their mother’s long locks to alleviate the trouble this causes. Also they are extremely sensitive. Another mixed blessing trait they inherited from dear old dad. So I guess we do share some DNA after all.


So....Long story short.....I love my sons. They bring me more joy, and purpose than I ever thought possible. But they are big fatty fat Trouble with a Triple Capital T. Which.....
Long story short.....means I am a regular dad!

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< #4 Star Trek

#2 JRR Tolkien >