You're going to have so much fun raising your kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You're going to have so much fun raising your kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Few Grown Men\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/files\/2013\/05\/Cropped-Zach-1024x645.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"marcusbrotherton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"marcusbrotherton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/\",\"name\":\"You're going to have so much fun raising your kids\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/dbf1044b76873c8545930da27b272da4\"},\"description\":\"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You’re going to have so much fun raising your kids\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/\",\"name\":\"A Few Grown Men\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/dbf1044b76873c8545930da27b272da4\",\"name\":\"marcusbrotherton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a2c1d93eef8583e03724fbab2db7d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a2c1d93eef8583e03724fbab2db7d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"marcusbrotherton\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/author\/marcusbrotherton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You're going to have so much fun raising your kids","description":"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You're going to have so much fun raising your kids","og_description":"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/","og_site_name":"A Few Grown Men","article_published_time":"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/files\/2013\/05\/Cropped-Zach-1024x645.jpg"}],"author":"marcusbrotherton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"marcusbrotherton","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/","name":"You're going to have so much fun raising your kids","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-27T16:10:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/dbf1044b76873c8545930da27b272da4"},"description":"Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The elderly woman stood next to me in line at the bookstore and made googly-eyes at my son. She grinned","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You’re going to have so much fun raising your kids"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/","name":"A Few Grown Men","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/dbf1044b76873c8545930da27b272da4","name":"marcusbrotherton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a2c1d93eef8583e03724fbab2db7d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e5a2c1d93eef8583e03724fbab2db7d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"marcusbrotherton"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/author\/marcusbrotherton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":1583,"date":"2013-05-27T10:10:26","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T16:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2013-05-27T10:10:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T16:10:26","slug":"youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/afewgrownmen\/2013\/05\/youre-going-to-have-so-much-fun-raising-your-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"You’re going to have so much fun raising your kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have so much fun raising your son,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

That wasn\u2019t what I expected to hear. People normally look at a little kid and say, \u201cOh, how cute.\u201d Or ask how old he is. But she was predicting the future. It was a blanket pronouncement from somebody who\u2019d been there once with her own kids, I guessed\u2014and had a ball.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Fun.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

I confess I don\u2019t often see life through that grid. Even when it comes to raising my kids. Oh sure, there are fun moments. But most of the time having kids mean installing car seats, and watch out for strangers,<\/em> and eat your carrots! That kind of \u2026uh \u2026 fun.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

How easy it is as leaders to place fun on the bottom rung of priorities. We\u2019re more prone to busy ourselves with the importance of whatever needs doing. Work isn\u2019t about fun, we\u2019ve long since told ourselves. We need to complete a project, meet a deadline, or sell a product. And home life isn\u2019t about fun either. Not if we\u2019re honest. The mortgage swirls through our mind. We\u2019ve got a car to maintain, a spouse to schedule a date with, a child to take to soccer practice.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

But fun?<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Last night I needed to discipline Zach. He was being zany, pushing his sister, yelling like a cutthroat pirate. I don\u2019t remember the specifics. He\u2019s at that wacky age where we don\u2019t keep track of his nuttiness for long.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

After I growled at him, and we got that over with, I put him in the bathtub and let him putter around with boats for awhile. Then I got him out and put jammies on him, and we sat in the old brown overstuffed chair in his room. Normally we have the same nighttime agenda: book, prayers, bed. But last night Zach was quieter than usual. He didn\u2019t clamor for a book. Not even The Sneetches<\/em>\u2014his favorite. He simply sat on my lap and leaned close into me.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

And I simply let him. I turned off the lamp and wrapped my arms around him, and we didn\u2019t do anything except sit in quietness. Maybe twenty minutes passed. Zach\u2019s breathing grew deeper and regular, and I knew he\u2019d fallen asleep. When I carried him to bed, I noticed how long and angular he felt. How quickly the days with him are already passing.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

You\u2019re going to have so much fun raising your kids. <\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

As a family leader, or any kind of a leader, will I remember that basic truth\u2014that much of life is indeed fun, if we see it as so. And will I allow that blessed grid to become the filter for the moments of my daily life?<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

I tucked the blankets around my son\u2019s chin, and crept softly out of the room.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Looking for the perfect Father\u2019s Day gift?<\/em><\/p>\n

SHIFTY\u2019S WAR<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe wonder of this book is how good it makes you feel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013New York Times bestselling author Robyn Post<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"