What's So Difficult About this Parenting Thing?

Saturday night, I came home from work and noticed that there was a basketball in one of our pine trees.  As there is no pavement anywhere close by upon which to even piddle around with a basketball, I asked my kids the inevitable question, "Why is there a basketball in the tree?"

The answer came from my oldest son in a very matter-of-fact tone, "We used it to get the frisbee out of the tree".

My next question was a bit transparent, but I asked it anyway:  "Didn't you try to get the basketball down?"

The answer that followed was, "we tried to use the frisbee, but it almost got stuck again".

I don't care what anyone says, these are the parenting moments that I live for.  All of the bedtime arguments, squabbling over chores, teen angst, etc. are more than made up for by the times when I actually have to wonder if I am hearing Calvin and Hobbes logic, or my sarcasm lessons have taken hold.

Over the years, I have done my best to teach them what I could, as it is a parent's job to make certain their children can operate in the real world when the time comes.  It's all well and good to teach them to play myriad sports, but the best thing you can do is teach them how to work things, fix things, deal with problems life is going to hurl at them.  Life is so much easier to deal with, simply from a financial standpoint, when you don't have to huck $300 or more to a plumber when your drains clog up.  My kids know what a plunger is for, and they know that boiling water is sometimes all you need for a stopped up kitchen sink.  My youngest has developed an affinity for livestock care, and my oldest son would probably gain weight if you dropped him off in the woods with a knife for a week.  Everyone can cook for themselves, when the need arises, and they are also fair hands with gadgets.  If the power goes out at night, you will likely see a milk jug full of water with a headlamp strapped to it for area lighting.

Today, we celebrated father's day with my parents with a ride and cookout.  Lacking charcoal, we used forest detritus for our fire, and the kids followed my "if you're going to grill it, mean it" rule and made do when we didn't have a pot for the baked beans.  Zack even fussed at me for using a regular can opener, rather than the one on my multi-tool.  There was swimming involved afterwards, and the kids even got to learn how to remove a leech with minimal effort and no puking.  It was a good day.  I hope yours was, as well.  Next time, I'll share my recipe for Ultimate Showdown Potato Salad.  For now, good night, friends and happy father's day.