Ryan's Dad

Discussion (2) ¬

1. 
   tmcelmurry

   January 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm | #

   Ah, the things we give up as we become Parents and (dare I say) adults. *shivers* When I got married I found myself at a cross road wanting to hold onto all these years and years of comics I had collected and what remained of my Star Wars and GI-Joe collections. Sure my new wife and I met at a Technical College, both working towards degrees in Computers, but did she really know what kind of a geek I was behind closed doors. My mother convinced me that it was “Time to put aside childish things and grow up.”, so I did. Now I wish I had those things to pass on to my kids.

   Part of growing up is realizing that you don’t have to give up what you were, you just find ways to fake it among the fairer sex long enough to convince them to Marry you, then you keep it hidden long enough for them to procreate with you and you pass it off to your offspring as nostalgia, all the while giggling with delight inside as you re-read the comics you grew up with or play with the cool toys you had as a kid.

   Man I wish I had even just 1/2 the stuff back I had when I was a kid. I took a walk down memory lane, better known as eBay, the other day and was taken back to when I a kid in the late 70′s, early 80′s and saw all the cool Star Wars toys I used to have. Now I’d have to get a second job just to get a piece of my childhood back. I usually buy my kids comic books now when they ask, just cause I knew what it was like back growing up and how much they meant to me. It’s still fun to read theirs, but it just doesn’t have that same feel anymore, but I remember what it was like for me so I encourage them to get them every chance they want. Hopefully they will hold onto their stuff a little longer than I did, or at least keep it well hidden until they can be blessed with little rug rats of their own.

   Gee that was a long comment. See your strip brought back a lot memories for me.

   • 
     Tony

     January 28, 2012 at 12:11 am | #

     I suspect that there are a lot of us that share those feelings, Todd.

     Though in my case, the “putting aside of childish things” was mostly self-inflicted. My wife was pretty cool about my geekier aspects (once I realized she liked “Star Trek” AND baseball, it was only a matter of time before I married her), but I felt like it was time to make my stand as an “adult.” And truthfully, I’d lost interest in a lot of that stuff.

     But things changed when my son was born. As he got older, I could share some of these things with them, and re-experience them through his eyes. As just one example, when he was young, the FX channel would run a block of shows on Saturday mornings consisting of “Batman”, “The Green Hornet” and “Wonder Woman.” As he started playing baseball, I would take him to games and play the “Green Hornet” theme to fire him (and me) up. Then when he was in high school, I had the job of playing music over the PA between innings. So when he would come in to pitch, I’d play that theme. I’m not sure what other people thought, but he and I enjoyed it.

     Sharing with your kids IS the best part of this, isn’t it?