Are You Having Any Fun?

By Zeke Quezada

Ask yourself: Are you having any fun?

What are you getting out of living?

I see this song at the top of my lungs and my son’s do the same. My oldest in a bashful way and my youngest as if he was on stage. Tony Bennett would be proud that his message was clearly getting across to my boys.

My life is simple; I dictate what I do on the premise that fun is necessary for living. If my children are smiling I must be doing something right.

That leads me to my everyday endeavors.

I struggle with the simple fact that I am surrounded by women every day. I rarely have the conversation about sports, about co-workers or about the things men talk about on a daily basis. I am a stay at home father. The truth is I work from home, but to most people they view me as the guy who walks his kids to school and plays in the front yard while the rest of the fathers in the neighborhood set off to work.

These days most people need to work, the concept of a housewife is so antiquated I feel dirty even saying the words. Everyone I know is a working mom or a working dad. I just happen to be a small fish in a sea full of female swimmers.

While most people would suggest that I really don’t have much in the way of sacrifice going on, the truth is when you commit to doing the job of the parent at home it is an all or nothing proposal. I find myself sitting in meetings that are meant to help the school where my oldest son attends and my youngest will one day enroll. I file homework for teachers and help with art projects. I have painted, read, taken pictures; I even was given a tooth by a kid once. That’s right, a 1st grader walked up to me and handed me his tooth.

So you might say, “You are lucky!”

I am.

More importantly, my children are happy. By choosing to work at home I have decided that my children will be my number one priority. I know that as I clean up after cats that my children love that I have very little space in my heart for. I see it as I ice skate with my child for hours as my lower back creaks with the pains of age. I feel it as my children hold my hand as we cross every street on the way to school.

I find it hard to believe that our priorities often don’t include the simple needs of our children. I figure I have a few years to do the things I will be glad I do not regret in twenty years. I have the opportunity to show my children the simple pleasure in life, the guiding principle of happiness is rooted in fun.

Recently, I read an article about Rupert Murdoch, a brilliant Businessman, he lamented that he regretted not taking a few more trips with his children. So often I have found myself digging deep holes in the sand as my children slid into the abyss created by their “papa”. I look across beaches and so many people forget that their kids are playing on a beach and that for that instant in time they too can enjoy the moment along with their kids.

Too many people forget how special it is for a child to hug you in the snow, to share a greasy slice of pizza with you or to hug you and say , “I love You”

My resounding principle of life is to never forget the miracle of having a child, of being able to help that special person through their life. To laugh at the silly things and to share the special moments that can only be shared between a parent and a child.

Too many people say that the best day of their life was when their children were born. I say that everyday after that only gets better. I have hope because I know that tomorrow will be way better than today. I know that if we laughed about the rain today, tomorrow we can laugh about the sunshine, or the snow or the wind.

My life is not just about my children, it’s about my family and it’s about redefining sacrifice. It’s about understanding that your family is so much of a nucleus of your life that the important things really are simple.

Simply put, Are you having any fun?

If you’re not, the chances that your children are not are pretty good.

I’m not sure that is why we are on this planet.