Growing, growing, gone!

This past Saturday our daughters competed in a swim meet at a nearby pool. They only recently joined this particular swim club, and I was out of town for their first meet, so hadn't seen them compete yet. So, last Saturday I pulled up a pool-side seat and got ready for the action. The kids did not disappoint.

Both girls competed in 4 events and they each did very well. What impressed me most wasn't what placed they finished, but their speed in the water. These girls can really move!

As I watched Megan compete in a backstroke event the thought occurred to me, "I don't think I can swim that fast". And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that undeniable truth that Megan has passed me up as a swimmer - she's a better swimmer at 11 than I will ever be.

And you know how this made me feel? Proud. (O.K. and a little bit old too...) But the thing that stuck with me was the question "how many other things will our kids do better than me?" As a father I hope the answer to that question is LOTS! I want to teach our kids everything I know, and then I hope that they take it a step further and surpass me in whatever they put their heart into doing.

For now it's swimming, and I look forward to whatever is next.

The Life of a Soccer Dad

The 3 or 4 of you who pay really close attention to this world class blog I have put together have noticed an eerie silence from me over the past month or so. What could possibly keep me away from publishing my innermost thoughts and hoped-for daydreams from an awaiting world? Have I been ill? Has there been a crisis? Have I passed over to that yonder shore?

None of the above! We simply have had our first experience as a family with May math. For the uninitiated, May math is end of the school year activities + the end of soccer season + the beginning of baseball/softball season + the end of the scouting year = a lot of crankiness and a little indigestion.

Well, with all of that crankiness and indigestion, I just haven't got around to my real job - blogging! So, to offer some proof for this lame excuse, I offer this photo I snapped today of Megan and one of her friends after a hard fought soccer game. And yes, there will be more of these photos to follow...year after year...season after season...until my camping chair and rear end become permanently fused.