THE ROCK FATHER is participating in the Every day, care™ Project from Whirlpool® as part of a sponsored campaign for Socialstars. #EveryDayCare
If you take even a passing glance at this site right now, you can see that Christmas is a big deal around here. Each year, around mid-November, I deck my virtual “halls” just as I deck the real ones here at home. As a big kid, the holidays have always been important to me as a magical time filled with sparkling lights, glistening snow and the festive sounds of the season. As parents, it’s a chance for my wife and I to create lasting memories for our girls as we stake out new traditions while sprinkling as much of that “magic” into our little ones’ lives as possible. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference, and it’s not always things that we, as grownups, make note of.
Last year was an unusually hard winter from a weather perspective, but from a “life” standpoint equally hard. Not hard as in any kind of hardship, but difficult to keep things in balance due to our schedules with work, school, the girls’ activities and the sometimes excessive amount of family commitments that we have (think the movie FOUR CHRISTMASES).
I didn’t put up any lights outside last year.
There just wasn’t any time.
While the inside was fully-decked as always, it wasn’t until maybe December 23rd that I picked up a 12ft rope of evergreen garland and a wreath to ad a little holiday cheer to the front of the house. I didn’t know it at the time, but Addie not only noticed, but remembered.
“Daddy, why didn’t we have any Christmas lights outside last year?”
That was the question posited by my five-year-old just after Halloween this year, followed by an elaboration not only on which houses in the neighborhood were decorated last year, but how the lights were done.
On November 8, just ahead of our first major snowfall of the year, I made sure that Rock Father HQ would be fully-decked outside this year, with a complete #Griswolding of the front. No, I didn’t use enough lights that the Greater Chicagoland area would experience a brown-out, but I did a tasteful assortment.
And then I took things a little further.
If Addie and Little Finley are going to keep remembering the little details as they have been, I want to give them something really special to hold onto… so I decorated their playhouse as well, complete with LED lighting.
What I learned from having “no time” last year is that there really is no excuse. I can make time, and for my wife and daughters, I always will.
Whirlpool® has launched the Every day, care™ Project to showcase how small, simple acts of care can make a huge impact on our World. From packing lunches and getting the kids off to school, to having the house cleaned up and the laundry done, the little things can make a big difference. Visit the Every day, care™ website and see how simple acts of care, every day, have the power to change the world.
