Intentional and Accidental Impact

Jennifer asked me what is something you deliberately did that had the biggest impact on the kids?  And what is something you accidentally did that had the biggest impact on the kids?

I'm not one for superlatives as they tend to be too subjective.  So rather than saying the 'biggest' impact, I'd offer up some things that had a 'big' impact.

Intentional actions

1- Reading to you pretty much every night before bedtime, or listening to your reading when you were older.

Of course I also remember times when I was so tired I would fall asleep while reading to you...or just start mumbling words because I was falling asleep.  Then one of you would poke me and ask what I was doing.  No excuses, just tired.

The original "Peter Pan" is a fantastic book for reading out loud to your kids.  The sentence structures are great.  The story is great, etc.

I was really happy that Mee-mee and Paw-paw gave us the blue Bible story books when you all were young and we could share those together.  I remember reading those bible story books as a kid and it was great to share them with you all.

2- Individually praying for you and tucking you into bed every night.

We prayed for you when you were too young to pray and then listened to your prayers as you got older.  It was great when you would request us to pray with you and for you.

3- Being involved in your activities

Music was probably the biggest intentional thing we shared.  It was so fun to watch you all grow in your musical abilities and see you bless others with your abilities.  Accompanying you all at numerous IHSA events or other auditions is another great memory.

While none of you continued with sports, our few years as coach / father / son in baseball and basketball was an intentional activity we shared.  Of course I won't go into detail in this posting when Jonathan was an umpire in little league and umped a game where I was coaching Peter's team.  That's part of another book.  It was a growing experience for both of us.

Who knows what your kids will do, but intentionally be involved in their life.  And don't wait till they're at 'the right age'.  Start from the time they're born.  Make it a priority.

Accidental Impact

- Boy scouts

That pretty much sums it up.  I didn't have good experiences with the short time I was in scouts as a kid and had never thought about getting you all involved in scouts.  However, I'm very thankful Jennifer got you all going as Tigers.  And as all three of you are Eagles, I'd say you are glad too.

Scouts is a great program that can teach great life skills - if you have the right adults involved.  If you have sons I hope you can share scouts with them and you'll be one of those adults who can help lead your sons and others.

While only Peter was interested in doing Philmont, that was a great time together.  We'd both go back to Philmont in a heartbeat.  And none of us will forget the Klondike derby sleeping in tents in -6 degree weather.  Watching all three of you lead the whole troop as the Senior Patrol Leader was an incredible experience.

Shared experiences - that's one of the things scouts can provide and I hope you can share with your kids.  If not scouts, shared experiences, that's a great thing.