Let’s rewind one year...
I look forward to my Saturday mornings with the kids. Our youngest two wake up even before our puppy. However, I get excited to see their glasses-free faces next to our bed at 6 AM (we clean their glasses nightly and leave them downstairs).
On a Saturday morning, we went downstairs, and they picked up their devices. This is perfectly acceptable for a Saturday. They play while I can get some coffee, walk our pup, and just ease into the day. When they want breakfast, I’m on it!
All was going great until someone forgot their password to something. Usually, that's not a big deal. But this time, they forgot their password for a program I paid for — which irked me (it irked the hell out of me, but I am trying to not use bad language).
Maybe I slept poorly. Maybe I am just not as good of a person as I want to be. But the only thing I wanted to do was pick up the iPad and smash it over my knee. Before you comment that I might want to speak with someone about thoughts like this, I do. I speak with my children and tell them I want to bash their devices over my knee.
No. I don't. I am just typing angrily right now thinking about it.
The sequence is one they are familiar with: I find the password. I log them back into Minecarft. Then, I tell them to remember their password, or at least write it down. But they didn't hear a word, because they are already knee deep killing some giant spider creature. So, we'll have a repeat of this in a week or two.
Fast forward to yesterday...
Expectations.
A year later, I am now wise beyond my years. Kidding. I, probably like you, have no idea what I'm doing, question everything I do, and just really want to go sit at a restaurant without thinking some virus is going to wipe out the family.
But my expectations are different. When I get up each day, I need to figure out what I can do to help others. What's my mission today? Every day is going to be different, and no day is going to go as expected. So, I embrace that. It's fun. It's an adventure.
I just took my first sip of coffee, when Carter chimes in with, "Dad, Minecraft keeps crashing." First off, when do they age out of Minecraft? The minute I think they are done with it, it makes a resurgence. I guess I still like Legos. Plus, if Legos had zombies I could kill, that would be pretty sweet.
I just take a breath and go at it. This morning, I am IT guy at your service. We aren't only going to get Minecraft up and running, we are going to clean up the whole computer. Why? Because that's what dads do.
I still am curious if I can crush an iPad over my knee, but that will have to wait.
I feel for you. I am just glad when my kids were that age that they didn't have all those computer games. Heck they didn't even have iPads back then. Yes, passwords can be a bit of a problem. With everything today needing a username and password to enter I now have a sticky pad full of usernames and passwords. As you get older it is a must. If you get annoyed enough with the iPad, it is easy to break over your knee. Hoping for more Legos and less Minecraft for you.
ReplyDeleteHi Ken! Happy New Year!
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