OT: The Things We Do For Our Kids

[jmorovich]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

 

[Mack_Daddy]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

I'm happy for you. I think it's a wonderful thing to find joy in another's passion.

I long for the days when buying a 15 cent pack of baseball cards made my day.

 

[BiochemPSU]

So many people have kids and treat them like crap. It sounds like you and your wife are giving your kids the best of both of you. They don't give out report cards for parents, but it sounds like you are well on your way to an A.

 

[Nit Nolte]

Years ago I took my then 7 years old daughter to see Jump 5. Not my cup of tea but they actually put on a good show. My daughter was dancing in the aisle most of the time. It was a hoot.

 

[ewb75]

I have driven my two now teenage daughters to see One Direction (twice, with one being about a 10 hour trip one way), Selena Gomez (twice, once during her Disney time, once since), Taylor Swift, and numerous of other acts of the same accord. And, they do not know it yet, but they have tickets to see Harry Styles and Niall Horan. This is coming from a man who would prefer to be listening to Guns 'n Roses, AC/DC, etc. But the smiles on their faces are worth it every time.

I have also turned off a couple big Penn State games when they have come to me and asked me to do something with them. Those hurt, but they are only young once. Soon the time is going to arrive that they are not going to want me around as much. But memories will last a lifetime!

 

[tobakkorudy]

We spoil them so they "aren't Like us". Deprived.

Cars, clothes, money.

And WE created a monster.

Slobs, entitled, lazy. My kid was a good one, valedictorian, tenth in his class at College.Not a slob though.

And I spoiled him. Upstairs on 4th floor looks like Toys 'R Us.

And I don't regret it.

Barber? My dad roasting me under a plastic sheet with a "teddy bear".

Car? Go fart in the wind. I was 22.

Clothes? Hand me downs from anyone.

Booze. Go fart in the wind. 22.

Out all night? Kids or girlfriends over? LMAO. Dead where you stood.

Fun?

Baseball against kids from other streets. Breaking windows out of empty buildings. Tormenting the town drunks. Letting creatures loose from the slaughterhouse. Fighting.

 

[Jakey_John]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

You should try to stomach the WWE as long as you can. My brothers and I watched it growing up (we are all now in our 30s) and it was arguably much better back then. Either way, my dad did the same as you and took us to the live events. Now it is a common ground for all of us and it makes for easy conversation when anyone casually brings it up...Wonder whose brain child the "Punjabi prision match" belongs to.

 

[TheBigUglies]

Your kids are only small once and will one day be on their own. Spend as much time with them as possible while they still like you and want you around. Some one once told me that when your kids are teenagers you kind of don't like them anymore. But around 18 they mellow out and you start liking them again (there is a lot of sarcasm there).

I have done many things like this thru the years. However, one of the most recent ones is taking my daughter to a taping of some dance show in NYC on a Sunday(4 hour drive for us) to get first in line at 5:00 AM on a 30 degree morning and sitting thru a 4 hour taping of the stupid show on the remote hope that she would get to meet one of the judges who she was a fan of. I was so skeptical that it wouldn't happen I was flat out miserable the whole time. Long story short, when the taping was over, she got to meet with this celebrity for a good 30 minutes, rec'd many hugs and took many selfies. This old guy was observing from afar in a dark corner getting all teary eyed and shit. Happy I went thru with it after the fact.

 

[nittany119]

I have driven my two now teenage daughters to see One Direction (twice, with one being about a 10 hour trip one way), Selena Gomez (twice, once during her Disney time, once since), Taylor Swift, and numerous of other acts of the same accord. And, they do not know it yet, but they have tickets to see Harry Styles and Niall Horan. This is coming from a man who would prefer to be listening to Guns 'n Roses, AC/DC, etc. But the smiles on their faces are worth it every time.

I have also turned off a couple big Penn State games when they have come to me and asked me to do something with them. Those hurt, but they are only young once. Soon the time is going to arrive that they are not going to want me around as much. But memories will last a lifetime!

Waited with my daughter outside the Londoner hotel in NYC when One D was staying there. It was a mob scene. Thru social media she found out when they were back from the show, and what floor they were staying on. We sneak up and get off the elevator. Within 10 seconds a bouncer comes over and asks what we are up to. As we start to talk, around the corner comes Harry. He says to her "Ello Love" in his accent, and gives her a big hug, then shakes my hand. He couldn't have been nicer. She will ever forget this and we still talk about it often enough. Of course, I did this even tho my wife was totally against it. But it was worth it.

 

[pandaczar12]

I'm a head coach at a major D1 football program, and I keep my son around on the staff even though no one wants him there. But it just puts a smile on my face to see him at work every day so happy!

 

[Nit777]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

As a 68 year old, I would observe that there are only three things of importance at my age:
Do you have enough money to be safe.
Do you have any health left to enjoy retirement
Are your kids good, producing members of society.

Not that standing in line to see a Disney star or sitting through 4 hours of MMA will make them better kids automatically, it reinforces for them that they are important enough for their parents to join them for special events. There will be many future opportunities for you to discipline them as they will start to know more than you when they turn about 16 and it will last to about 25. I always tell younger friends with kids that little Johnny or Mary will rebel against their dad, but may respect their friend who also happens to be their dad.

Good luck!

 

[AWS1022]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

I did a few live WWE shows with my son as well. I took both my kids to see a lot of movies I did not want to see (Pokémon Movie was the absolute worst thing I ever had to sit through). But now that my kids are grown, I would do it all over again if I had the chance. Luckily I still get to spend a lot of time with my son and we do fun stuff (baseball games, good movies, football games), but I don't see my daughter very much and I rarely get to do stuff with both of them anymore. I miss those times more than anything.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

Nice job, Daddy.

 

[Nitwit]

I created a Penn State football monster by taking my daughter to games from the time she was young. She is now 28 and knows the players better than I do. What better gift could I have given her but a lifetime of rooting for Penn State football.

 

[LionJim]

Cool thread. I was watching Breaking Bad yesterday and was struck by the scene in the bar with Walt and Jane's father, where they discussed their struggles to help Jesse and Jane. So reading this today really took the edge off.

 

[PearlSUJam]

I have two kids (Daughter who is 8 and a Son who is 10). After the day my wife and I had yesterday with the kids, I figured I would pose this question to the board. "What have you done for/with your kids that you wanted no parts of but by the time it was done was so happy you did because of the nonstop smile your child's face?"

My daughter wanted to go meet a Disney star from a TV show she watches so my wife took her to the water park where this actress was. She got there at 11 (the actress was going to be there from 1-4). They got in line at 12...the actress was an hour late due to traffic and my wife and daughter waited in line for almost 2 hours. It was outside in the sun and was 104 degrees. All that being said, the actress was incredibly kind and was talking to my daughter about the show and taking as many pics as she wanted. My daughter couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and is still talking about it. My wife said it was all worth it.

My son is a typical 10 year old boy. Really into football, plays AAU basketball, loves comics, and into WWE wresting. I am not into WWE, but he begged me to go to a wrestling event last night so we bought tickets and went. It started at 7pm and didn't end until 11:15pm (yup...almost 4 and a half hours of being somewhere you have zero desire to be)! The whole way home he couldn't stop telling me how much he loved it, how exciting it was, and he couldn't stop smiling. He is talking about it with all his friends today and he's still on cloud 9.

It's amazing the way your children's happiness can change your whole perception of an event. It makes being a parent a fantastic thing!

Take your kids to Disney World and wait in line to get all of the characters autographs. (Separately across all the parks). Then get back to me!

 

[psuro]

I created a Penn State football monster by taking my daughter to games from the time she was young. She is now 28 and knows the players better than I do. What better gift could I have given her but a lifetime of rooting for Penn State football.

Awesome - could you get her to start posting here? Some on here could use some knowledge.

 

[Obliviax]

I bought my daughter a 911...I am just using it until she gets her driver's license in four years.

 

[jmorovich]

Take your kids to Disney World and wait in line to get all of the characters autographs. (Separately across all the parks). Then get back to me!

Have been 8 times since they were born...I know the pain. Started going every year after they were born. At one point I sat through 3 straight showings of the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom because my daughter wouldn't stop singing and smiling.

Luckily they are getting older now so the next trip is 3 days in universal and 4 days in key largo.

 

[Nitwit]

I created a Penn State football monster by taking my daughter to games from the time she was young. She is now 28 and knows the players better than I do. What better gift could I have given her but a lifetime of rooting for Penn State football.

Awesome - could you get her to start posting here? Some on here could use some knowledge.

No - unlike the rest of us, she actually has a life.

 

[91Joe95]

My now 6 year old daughter absolutely loves all the adult spinning rides at the amusement park. Dear Lord, I am a wreck after them.