Halen's affinity recently for dressing like a princess and snuggling his baby has got me thinking that perhaps I involve him in too few "man activities", things like eating chili, watching NASCAR racing, shooting rabbits, and disassembling cars.We don't have a functioning television or firearms, and I can't figure out how to pop the hood on our car, so many "man activites" are beyond the scope of possibility for Halen and I. But although I may not be manly, I am resourceful, so I took Halen down to the big construction site at Reston Town Center to let him watch real men in hardhats wield powertools and cuss.
He loved the massive cranes that scraped the blue sky and swung huge vats of wet concrete from point to point. He liked the dirt and rebarb, the 2x4s and chain link, the ladders and tool belts. I don't really know any of that for sure, but it's my prerogative as a parent to tell my kids what they think.