I just had the best vacation

Hey oh, Dynasty Dad your dadding newsletter. The perfect quick read during those moments of solitude on your thinking thrown (toilet).

If you are like me, that is when my best reading happens.

Dad Meme and Joke Of The Week

Meme

Joke

I met a nun that wiped her nose on her clothes.

She had a nasty habit.

We just had the best vacation.

I just had the best vacation, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

As a busy and stressed dad taking a break from the constant hustle was a much-needed luxury.

Here's why this trip meant so much to us...

This was our first vacation without the kids in almost two years and was long overdue.

The last time we had a kidless trip was during our babymoon before our third and final child arrived. I don’t think it even counts.

That trip was marred by my inability to taste a thing (I had covid) and solo-painting two bedrooms.

This time, however, we embarked on a remarkable adventure that brought us closer together.

Our trip consisted of; getting trapped for five hours in a convent with nuns, witnessing the democratic process, and reconnecting with great friends, we rarely see in person.

We visited the offices of our Senator and House representative and sat in the gallery of both the house and senate to observe democracy.

Other than saying the pledge of allegiance with the House members it wasn’t very impressive.

The house reps gave shoutouts (bdays and retirement) to constituents from their district and the senate…

And for Senators, Friday looks like defending a hail mary (in football not to be confused with our nun encounter).

On Fridays, only one Senator comes to the Senate floor to perform a 90 sec procedure to declare the Senate in session and then immediately declares it closed. The reason….

To stop the president from being able to appoint anyone he wants (the president can make uncontested appointments if the senate doesn’t meet for 3 days).

But what made this trip truly special was the time we spent with our friends, without the constant distractions of kids.

Reconnecting with old pals felt incredible and reminded us of the importance of maintaining those connections.

An unexpected twist occurred when we got stuck in a convent. My wife's best friend from elementary school joined a silent order of nuns.

My wife connected via handwritten letter before our trip to DC and we were invited for dinner (and a whole lot more).

The nuns were surprisingly humorous and heartwarming, adding a unique dimension to our vacation. You bet I cracked a habit (nun's cloak) joke or two.

Spending five days away from our kids was the perfect balance. The first two days allowed us to relax fully, while by the fifth day, we started to miss our little monkeys.

I can't thank my parents and sis enough for enlisting in a tour of caring for our furiously independent kiddos.

And the real magic.

Not only did we feel more connected to each other as a couple, but we also felt rejuvenated and ready to be the best parents we could be to our kids.

Our children, too, seemed to have needed this break, as they happily piled into the car to be with us again, without a single complaint.

This trip was a game-changer for our family dynamics, emphasizing the importance of taking time for ourselves and each other.

It gave us a chance to unwind, recharge, and remember why we cherish being parents.

As soon as my parents forget about the exhaustion of looking after our kids, we'll be planning another trip.

This Week's Interesting Thing:

One other thing I got to do on vacation was to read.

I started and finished the quick read: Don’t Tell Me I Can’t.

An autobiography by 14-year-old Cole Summers about the power of unschooling.

While his 5th-grade peers (10 yo) were learning to memorize the planets alphabetically, he was on to his second business and learning how to create a pass-through LLC to save money on taxes.

He grew up in a poor family in rule America. But his parents encouraged him to pursue learning he was interested in, leading him to own multiple businesses, hundreds of acres of land, and a house he rehabbed himself by the age of 14.

My takeaways:

Encourage kids to pursue learning that they are interested in. It will speed up their learning and help them overcome the failure that is part of the learning process.

And this second thing was a real wake-up call to me.

Let your kids do it themselves.

Cole tells a story that at age 4 he wanted to change the flat tire on the family car, so his parents let him.

As he unthreaded each lug nut, he would just toss them aside. When he went to put the new tire on, he had to spend most of his time trying to find the lug nuts. From that point on, when he changed a tire, he would neatly stack the lug nuts.

The point is if a child shows interest in doing something like fixing a car or cooking, even though it will likely be messer and take longer, let them do it.

Nothing is better for building confidence and growing curiosity than to let kids figure it out themselves.

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