Dad Land

The definition of 'dad' is a difficult one, we are after all individuals so there is no one size fits all description available. Certainly the general idea is that we are always there for our children and will love, support and teach them to the best of our ability. 

However despite all of these responsibilities there still remains a place in our heads that is probably best referred to as Dad Land. This is where a plethora of ideas rattle around, fun, childish, exciting thoughts, things to do, pipe dreams, theories, it's all in there waiting to be released. Obviously 99.9999% of the time this is exactly where all these ideas remain, but occasionally something slips out and comes to fruition.

Skydiving, road trip, trekking, well yes possibly, or it might be something much more straight forward like buying a new shed, making a fantastic kite which may, or may not, fly, taking a course in butchery, book repair, scuba diving, the list is in fact endless and probably in a large part just fantasy, but it is still all up there just waiting to escape into the real world.

Then of course there is Dad Stuff, power tools, gadgets, maps, compasses, bikes, toys, games, again a huge list, which is probably not exclusive to dads, and contains everything from our childhoods through to the present day. Scalextric, video games, board games, yes please and we are always happy to play. Compass or GPS, either or both and we know how to fold the map as well. Swiss Army Knife or Gerber Multitool, well I'm sure you get the idea, if we have it then we will attempt to use it and if we don't then we need it.

Finally for now there is sport, watching it, supporting our children and advising them on how to to it better, (part of our make up is that we do know better than our children, a theory that becomes harder to prove as they get older), and of course taking part. The last is possibly the most difficult as age does catch up however hard you try to ignore it, nevertheless this does not prevent a kick about or game of tennis with the kids, training for marathons, or squeezing into Lycra for a Sunday morning ride on road, or off.  Armchair or actual, it doesn't really matter, there is something that draws the majority of us to sport and all the paraphernalia that goes with it and there really is no point in explaining to the children how at their age you used to wear the same thick cotton football shirt for all sports if you have a collection of breathable tops for every possible situation cluttering up the wardrobe.

Andy