For the last few weeks, I’ve been mindful of the home, possessions and lifestyle that I have. Each one of these things brings me a great deal of satisfaction, which is rooted in a sense of gratitude for the way I’ve been able to pull it all off.
For most of my career, I’ve felt like an imposter. A dreaded victim of the infamous ‘imposter syndrome’, I can attribute a lot of this due to a void of personal reflection on the progress I’ve made in the professional world.
I never thought that I’d become a ‘web guy’ or run a digital agency. Rather, that path seemed to have presented itself many years ago, and I never stopped walking up that road.
My Dad was also a ‘computer guy’ who seemed to not only know the answer to any digital problem, he was also well abreast of the current industry trends and innovations. This meant countless hours of study, experimenting and exploring new tools, operating systems and ways of using the internet.
One of the best perks of my Dad’s occupation was that he’d often be the recipient of the latest electronics. Most of his clients were often too busy to learn how to use the new ‘toy’ they just bought, so they’d buy a second one for my Dad to use and master, in order to share his findings with them.
My Dad taught me a lot of lessons, both on the computer and in the garage. In both of those areas, I saw his knowhow, but also his temperament. I can’t share the importance of this enough.
A few hundred years ago, kids would work in the fields with their Dad. In that environment, they saw their Father hard at work, but also placed in situations where his temperament would be stressed. For example, when a man was holding a trailer hitch and instructing his children to back the horse into position, that was a circumstance where his voice was likely raised on par with the weight of the wagon he was holding.
Kids would see their Dads get hurt when they hit their finger with a hammer, and hear the accompanying yell that went along with it. It taught them, through observation, the appropriate time and place to vent their aggression.
After a long day of work, both Dad and child would return home and enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way, the child saw the complete picture of how their food was put on the table.
Today, kids are dropped off at school and return to parents who come home at 8pm after a long day of work. The child can’t understand why the parent might be short-tempered because they weren’t there to observe the day of effort the parent made, and thus the child is left trying to put together emotional bricks too heavy for their age to carry.
Whenever I go to the garage, I lovingly joke to Atlas a line: “Hey Atlas, want to come to the garage to learn about tools and profanity?”
While I do my best to keep my tongue in check, there are many situations in the garage where Atlas sees my temperament being tested, as well as the importance of being obedient.
Today, we installed a wall mount for a bike, and it was a quick and simple way to show him how to use a drill and hammer. He really wanted to hold the hammer, and I took the opportunity to let him feel the metal and showed him how to safely hold it (like a suitcase handle) while I drilled in the wall anchors.
Atlas seized the opportunity and he stood at attention with the hammer at his side. For a 2 year-old, he looked six feet tall.
When it was time for the hammer, Atlas carefully handed it to me and I pounded in the anchors. Minutes later, the bike was securely mounted to the wall.
Atlas stood back and looked and the bike and exclaimed:
“Wowwwwwwww!”
I looked at Atlas and gained a new appreciation for the time and sweat my Father invested in me as a child. Moments like this are pivotal not only for the child, but also for the parent.
Today, we both grew up a little and learned the importance of using the right size drill bit before hammering in an anchor…thanks for the lesson, Dad.
“Use the right tool for the job.”
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