Accept everyone

The recent news of the Boy Scouts of America still not allowing gay people to participate in scouting activities has really struck a nerve with me.  Let me say up front that I am an Eagle Scout and some of my most fond memories of growing up are from scouting.  So much so that a few months ago I bought Declan a rather expensive but totally cute tshirt that looks like a scout uniform.  I really want Declan to have some of those same experiences cause of how much I loved them.  Now I know he may not want to do scouting and that's fine with me if that's his choice. 

The issue is that I want to teach Declan to accept everyone, regardless of how they may be different than you.  So how can I then support him joining a group who's policies say that gays can't participate?  I don't want to support any group that discriminates against other people, and the fact that the BSA are one of those groups is truly ripping me up inside.

Wish - I wish that Declan will always judge people not by their differences but how they treat others.

Sleep!

I love my little guy, I truly and honestly do.  But sometimes I just wish he would go to sleep.  I wish I could say that he sleeps through the night with no problems, but he usually doesn't.  It's not something I worry about or anything like that, it's more of an annoyance than anything.

Wish - I wish that Declan's sleeping habits get better...soon.

Being a working dad sucks

My wife is a teacher in a high school so she is off for the summer.  Today she took Declan to the beach with her mom and I'm jealous.  She was nice/cruel enough to send me a short video of the little guy playing with his shovel in the sand and it was great to see, but I also wish I could be there.

I am finding that balancing family/work/me/chore time is a very difficult thing to do and some people have a clearly different idea of how I should spend all of my time than I do, but I am doing the best that I can and doing what I think is right.  Unfortunately I can't spend 100% of my time as family time but I do find that I cherish the time with my family more because of this.  Even when we are doing "nothing", like watching TV or going shopping I have found that I enjoy that time just as much as the fun stuff (like going swimming or to the zoo).

Wish - I wish that Declan will one day play an instrument.  I wish I had the time and the talent to learn an instrument.  I played the drums in school and I could probably still hold a beat but it's my wish Declan takes an interest to an instrument and carries that with him for the rest of his life.  Maybe someday I'll have the time to learn an instrument too and we can "jam" together.

Underestimating the time it takes to be a Dad.

Long time no post huh? Yeah I know, I know. I will admit that I severely underestimate the sheer amount of time being a dad takes. There are so many things that I would like to be doing that I simply don't have the time for (like blogging) and to be honest I don't feel bad about that. Declan is by far the best thing in the world to ever have happened to me and I am thankful for him everyday (even when he tries to roll away while I'm trying to change his diaper, what a mess). 

So there has been so much going on in my life that I really don't know what to start with. So I have decided that I will try to make a lot more shorter posts that long posts, but I will end each post with something I either want to do with my son someday or that I want him to experience for himself.  Some of these may be rehashed from previous posts, but I'll just blame that on laziness or a particular passion for that wish, take your pick.

I wish that Declan will someday dance with him mom at his wedding.  Getting to dance with my mom was an awesome experience and something I will always cherish.