munky.org|v3.0

For years growing up, birthdays were always a big day, a day exclusively for myself. I’m sure many can relate. As I got older, they tended to lead into alcohol induced parties, lots of fun, but still the one and only being the center of attention.

Then you grow up. You have children, you change and mature. It’s not so much fun being the center of attention anymore. Sure, you like the attention, but you don’t have the selfish desire anymore. Take this year for example. Today I celebrated my 26th birthday. What did I do? We went for lunch at the Olive Garden, then went to an early Easter egg hunt at my daughter’s pre-school. Then we headed over to the grandparents for dinner and cake. What kind of cake does a real man eat? A pink one of course, the color my lil girl wanted to make my special birthday cake. Could I say no?

For the record, I don’t believe in the whole “real men wear pink.” It’s fairly lame actually, though some guys have the ability to pull it off. There is a difference between confidence and color preference. Maybe I’m biased against it, seeing it everyday with my daughter. But a real man can wear pink, put on make up, get nails painted, etc., if it means that much more time and enjoyment with their children. I wouldn’t give up my pink birthday cake for the world.

Today's rocket - Estes Rascal. Free hand me down worth a million smiles

For people who think spending time with your children is overrated, you need to be slapped. To people who think you have to spend lots of money for your children to have a good time, you need to remove your head and gain a new perogative.

So how do you spend time with your children on the cheap while teaching them new things? There’s millions of ways to do it. Today, my daughter and I launched a model rocket. Nothing fancy, but it went a long way. Ever since we got the rocket (my father in-law had it laying around when they had to move), she’s been wanting to launch it. I finally found my old portable launch stand and launch controller today, so without missing a beat, I offered to let us launch it. Her eyes were a mile wide in joy.

So we went out and set it up. I explained the things we were doing, and explaining about safety. She was a big help for me. Her biggest job was to hold on the safety key, but she also help me set up the stand and prep the rocket. Amazing how much fun wadding is to insert.

Then after we got everything set up, it was time to go Houston. She got to insert the key, we counted down, I kept it armed and she got to launch it. She got giddy after watching it launch!

Only downside was the high level winds. That baby went HIGH! By the time it hit its max altitude (over 1,200 ft), it probably had drifted almost 1/4 mile SW, and it landed 1/2 a mile NE. In the median of a busy road, caught on a bush 6 inches away from the curb.

So we didn’t launch again, but it didn’t matter. She was still excited about it hours later. Nothing like bringing joy to your child’s face, especially when she gets to learn something new and develop a joy and interest in science. Highly underrated.