Field of Dreams
Last weekend we traveled to Gainesville for my brother’s wedding. Congratulations Travis and Claire! It was a morning wedding so we were done by about 2pm. Like any good Gator fan wanted we wanted to visit the Swamp, a field of dreams. Kids dream of playing in front of 90,000 plus fans at the Swamp on a Saturday night. We wanted to go but after a good yet long morning the boys were falling apart and it was now 2:30 on a HOT summer day in Florida. Plus we had a 3 hour drive home. We were tempted to just go home so the boys could get a nap in the van.
Lindsay and I have been to games, most memorable was Tim Tebow’s last home game against FSU last November. But we have never been when its empty. Plus the boys had never been there and we probably won’t be bringing them back any time soon. Everything inside of me as a parent said, “forget about it and go home.” After all the boys reached their melting point about an hour earlier. Getting them in the van and on the road would give them a long overdue nap. But something else inside of me said, “Seize the moment.” So Lindsay and I pulled out of the hotel parking lot with the interstate on the right calling our name we turned left towards the UF campus. We were risking our sanity to visit the Swamp.
We made the trek around the stadium to take pictures by the Bull Gator outside the stadium and then headed inside. It’s crazy to think that this empty structure has been part of so many memories, so many winning touchdowns, interceptions, sports center catches and the occasional defeat. When it’s full of people it’s electrifying, when it’s empty it’s surreal. We took a moment to take it all in, Andrew practiced his Gator Chomp a few times, I think Joshua got a few Chomps in as well, and started taking some pictures.
Typically if you try and go on the field a security guard will appear out of nowhere and tell you to leave. However we noticed a few people on the field so we decided to jump the wall and let the boys run on the field of dreams. While the boys couldn’t fully comprehend that they were running on the same that we see on tv every fall they had a blast! I must say that is was fun for me too.
As parents often times we wait for special events to do something with our kids or we just think of the extra hassle and skip it all together. I’ve realized over the last few weeks that our boys just love going outside and running. My boys love fields soccer fields, baseball fields, football fields, any field with open space. They don’t need fancy equipment or even a ball just a field and a dad to run with them. It’s summer in Florida and it’s HOT but kids don’t care because they have an open field to run in!
So parents, I’m talking to you dads in particular, get off the couch and take your kids outside. Pack some water, sunscreen, maybe a ball and get outside. Too many times I choose the easy way, pop in Toy Story and watch a movie with them. Not any more. We are going outside.
If you don’t have kids or they are no longer at home find a single mom and offer to take her boys out become a father figure to those boys, they need it. Not that a single mom can’t do a great job raising her boys but a great mom can’t replace a good dad, and a great dad can’t replace a good mom.
You don’t have to wait to visit the Swamp, any field can be a field of dreams!
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