THE MAN CHILD

For some reason society still thinks that that the most important thing you can do when starting a family is to have a son. This obviously comes down from the centuries when men were the only people in the world who could own property. If you died and had only daughters, your estate went to your nephew or the nearest male kin. Likewise with royalty. A King needed his Queen to bear him a son to inherit his kingdom. If no son was born, the kingdom went to his brother or other male heir. Crowning a Queen was the last resort. Our first two children were girls, and after Greysen was born the one comment people would say when they found out was, "So, you have your boy." It was like they were saying, "So, now you can stop." In all honesty I would have been content with having all girls. I mean after having two in a row you begin to get used to that "chick" rhythm. But I must say, it was a gigantic boost to my male prowess and ego when Greysen was born. I thought to myself, "Yes, a man child to pass on the Daily name and all the junk I've been accumulating all these years." That's another important factor as well, passing on the family name. In this crazy world we live in I thank God that my son is "normal." In other words, he likes to skateboard, play paintball, participate in sports, camp, and more importantly, he likes girls. I must say that he's grown into a good looking kid. He's almost as tall as his old man. He's also getting to be a bit cocky. He tries to test me to see how far he can go. This is typical of boys who are becoming men; the young lion taking on the older one for control of the pride. Other than that he's a great young man. He is well liked by his peers, and they follow his lead. He started a fashion in school by wearing shoe laces in place of a belt, and after several days half the boys on campus were doing the same. He loves and is very protective of his sisters. He helps his mother when he can, sometimes without having to be asked. He's my best buddy, and that's something I need to tell him more often. He's fourteen now, and that leaves me only five more years before he leaves on his mission; five years that will pass me by in a heartbeat if I am not careful. I remember a scene from the Robin Williams movie "Hook." Williams plays an adult Peter Pan who gave up his eternal youth to marry Wendy's daughter Moya. He's a work-a-holic executive with two children, but he never has time to enjoy them because he's always busy with work. After missing his son's baseball game his wife councils him: "Jack isn't going to be asking you to do things with him for much longer. In a few years you'll be the one chasing after him for a bit of time. Your children are growing up, and you are missing it." Sometimes Hollywood gets it right, and I have tried never to forget those pearls of wisdom.