Swing

As the habit of playing catch with my boys in the backyard after work began to wane, I looked around for a replacement.  Driving home from Hughes Aircraft for about an hour every workday left me keyed up and anxious for a period of time.  A 3’ cushion of distance from the car ahead of me for a solid 45 to 60 minutes caused me to be somewhat unsettled as I drove into our driveway.  Additionally, being greeted at the door with some form of ‘guess what your child did today’ left me with extremely little time (about 15’ of the walkway to the front door) to decompress from the rigors of the day and don the ‘hat’ of a parent and father for the engagements of evening hours.  Little wonder that I found that I needed a brief respite from the previous 10 hours of the morning and afternoon.  Before I dutifully shed my workday attire and symbolically donned the casual attire of a church calling or active father, I found I needed about a half an hour to extricate myself from the cares of a computer scientist (with a multitude of cares in the workplace) before I inserted myself into the cares and needs of a father, addressing the apparent and immediate concerns of children and home.  If I did not have this brief but important ‘break’, I found that I did not as readily shed workday concerns and elicit family responsibilities.  Additionally, if I merely sat down to ‘catch my breath’, I somehow engaged the demand(s) of wife and children better.  Apparently, a father who appeared to be idle was idle; and therefore, fair game to encumber with what must’ve seemed demanding needs for help and assistance.  Because my work was very cerebral and did not enjoin the physicality of their activities, those at home assumed an unmoving father was an available father.  Where the ideas and plans that somehow materialized from thin air came from was a mystery to all - but me. They must’ve emerged magically while wife and children were asleep.  Regardless of their obliviousness toward cerebral work, my energies and application toward fatherly duties would be best served with a brief but valuable break following the long drive home.