Those are some of the most feared words in the Dad-universe: some assembly required. My son’s birthday is today and I am to report that my dad card is still intact and functioning. I was able to assemble all gifts in a reasonable amount of time before my son awoke the next morning. We immediately began playing with the bike, and he enjoyed the water table while I washed the car.
Our first water table from Great Grandma
But that is small potatoes in my life right now. I just launched my website and signed a publishing contract to get my book published! WOOT!
Getting to this point required a lot of assembly in a little amount of time. Summer is the best and the worst. For stay-at-home parents summer can be a time of joy. Where the kids get outside breath fresh air, get tan, run out of energy fast by going to the pool and they get to play with you… all day long, every day. Summer is great, but school is awesome because as much as I love my little guy we need a break from each other. That first Thursday of summer, he gave me this look like, “Really it’s just you and me for the foreseeable future. (sighs) I am going to have to adjust my expectations and get used to you again.” I was like, “Yup. I feel the same way little man.”
With the kiddo at home, naptime becomes regain sanity time. Therefore, work gets pushed to the early AM (morning person and wife wants to hang at night). Do you know how much work you can get done in the morning in the summer? Not as much in the fall or winter because the sun wakes up earlier which means my son is ready to play earlier. So here we are after some assembly required at the end of summer. We made it.
The website is in its third complete build. Let me tell you how painful it was to get to the end of the first and find it didn’t do what I needed it to do. The second time my wife blew it up by letting me know in kind terms that it was a terrible iteration of the website. Here we are iteration #3. Let me know if everything works well.
Of course, my problems were what every dad who rushes through things to get them done. I didn’t read the instructions or ask for help when I needed it the first time. Patience isn’t easy when you have some cool ideas that you want to share with the few cultivated readers you have. You want to give them value. You want to share the cool things you have with them. So, you can expect some hopefully awesome articles I have been working on over the summer.
I skipped over how to do the handlebars correctly the first time. Perpetual right turns are no fun except in NASCAR.
The second thing my website is for is my burgeoning author career. I wanted to be able to sell my forthcoming book through my website, so people could find it and me easier. I also wanted a place that I could coordinate speaking engagements, guest posting and other links to stuff I think relates to faith and fatherhood.
Yes, this means more book promo material will be coming your way, but only if you sign up for it which is something I can now control. Hooray for email lists and fun ways to interact with you, my reader. My book is about 3-4 months out from publishing. This should mean it will be a great Christmas gift. I will also be getting out to speak at some local churches and hopefully some other churches I have ties to around the country. If you want me to come to your place and speak, reach out. Maybe I can link it on to an existing arrangement. If you are local, Knoxville TN, then I can be pretty flexible.
Some assembly required are the words of Dad-hell in many cases. I have finally escaped it, and it was hot in Tennessee this summer. Now the holy season of autumn has come with its beautiful leaves, college football and most importantly school for my son. I am excited to get back into writing for you and taking you along the Faithful Fatherhood journey.
