Today is Friday! It’s the night that my son and I set aside each week to do some male bonding, enjoy life and have some fun together. We’ve been doing this for almost a year now. It’s a night that my son gets to stay up until midnight. It’s the night we get to eat all sorts of junk food that’s bad for you. It’s the night that we cut loose and celebrate authentic manhood.
My son Zach is the master planner of Man Party. I am just the financier. Zach gets to pick what we do, where we eat and who we include. But the financier has to approve it according to the budget. The night usually begins with dinner at home, Portillo’s or Chick fil A, then we usually watch a movie at home or head to the 4 Star Cinema, where a ticket for a first run movie is only $7. We’ve also spent many a night at Disneyland, and this summer have plans to take in an Angels game or two as well. But lately, we’ve been doing the movie thing, followed by some video games. Over the course of the last few months, we’ve watched the prequel and trilogy of Star Wars, the Back to the Future series, as well as the complete set of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
As you can probably imagine Zach looks forward to this night all week! We talk about our options in the morning as I drive him to school and we confirm our plans on Friday morning. Tonight we’re heading to Portillo’s for dinner and then off to see the Avengers! And Jennifer, my wife, is totally supportive and wouldn’t have it any other way.
So why do I do this? Because I love my son. Because I want him to have special memories with his dad. But primarily because I believe that my relationship with my son will greatly shape the man he will become in the future. Additionally I’ve learned that men don’t like to sit face to face and talk about their feelings and that it’s much easier to open up when we’re doing something side by side, and we can just let the talk flow naturally as we stand in line for a roller coaster or talk on the ride home about how cool the special effects were in Real Steel and about the life lessons we learned from the story.
Yes, it’s in these shared experiences that I get the opportunity to speak into my son’s life. And for my son, it’s all in the context of having fun. I don’t know how much longer Zach will want to continue prioritizing Man Party with dad, but I am clearing my calendar as much as I can, to make sure I’m there until Man Party is replaced with dates with girls.
