A friend sent me a message yesterday about my Casanova review essentially saying, "How can you give…read moreadvise on the ladies when you're a single dad who's sleeping with his dog. You've got no street cred."
Ouch!
Ok, Fellas, you got me. But let me make a clarification: one, I sleep next to my dog, not with my dog; and two, yeah, I'm a single dad, that's what defines me, and here's what I'm talking about:
http://static.px.yelp.com/photo/TouhXRizjpEM8aEnDfOQ4A/l
The greatest joys in my life have come from my children; the most anguish and heart-wrenching pain in my life have also come from my children. However, whatever I achieve in my life will never be in spite of my kids it will always be because of my kids, because there could never be, for me, anything more fulfilling and inspiring than being a dad.
The biggest problem in being a single parent is time. You never have enough time each day to get it all done, to create the right framework and personal attention needed to nurture and develop your children to your personal satisfaction. I addressed this issue, in part, by having my kids participate in sports. The swimming program at the Monterey Bay Swim Club (MBSC) in Monterey is a great example. The team practices at the pool at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). After school, the kids come home, have a snack, get some homework done (OK, in our dream world this happens), and then go to swim practice where they can be picked-up after 6:00 PM or so. The kids are supervised and get in a good workout. The Head Coach at MBSC, Mary Hazdovac, is a great coach, role-model, and leader for the kids.
There are tremendous benefits that accrue from this type of program. It helps build on a daily structure that's positive for the kids and that also helps the parent get through the work-day unimpeded. It teaches the kids a lot about discipline and goal setting, working with others as a team, how to handle both success and failure in life, and how to compete under pressure and with confidence. I strongly recommend MBSC as a sports program for young kids. Send me a message if you want more details.
With sports, interesting and memorable things happen along the way. One of my son's, Walter, qualified for Far Western Zone Championships at Federal Way, Washington when he turned 10. He wanted to go to Washington with just his teammates, not with his dad, which I thought would be a good experience for him. But, I decided to go up on my own on the last day of the swim meet to see him swim without his knowledge.
I entered the swim stadium early Sunday morning and surreptitiously sat in the bleachers and watched him swim the preliminaries in the 100 fly and 200 IM. It was awesome. As I was leaving the swim stadium, I ran into one of Walter's teammates, a breaststroker from San Ramon Livermore, who said that Walt had lost his wallet and hadn't eaten for 3 days. Well, the jig was up. I found Walter with his teammates hanging-out on the bleachers near the pool and approached him. He was surprised to see me.
Hey Walter. How're ya doing?
Oh, hey Dad, whatcha doing here?
Well...I'm just in the area. I heard you lost your wallet.
Yeah, musta fallen out on the bus ride to the hotel
Whatcha been eating?
Just been mooching pizza slices from teammates here and there.
I'll bet you're hungry?
STARVING...
Here's some food money, Buddy.
Thanks, Dad
I'm proud of you, Walter, I love you...
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