I am starting to get more amazed at the things we would do for our kids. I get the normal parent stuff. We work our asses off to provide a better life for them. We give up of ourselves and our lives in order to take them to various places and functions because it is what they like versus what we would like to do. We worry and care about them because that is what we do. I got it. It is in the job description and the contract I signed. 
What I am now starting to become completely perplexed about are the ridiculously stupid things we do to spend time with our kids. Let me give you a for example. A couple of years ago when my daughter turned 18 she had skydiving on her bucket list of things to do. So what do I do, I take her skydiving. We went and I got to tell you it was freaky at best. Well last week my son turned 18 and guess what sparky wanted to go do. That’s right, jump out of a damn plane with pops! So I plan for our little “bonding” time together to go skydiving. Once we get to this out of the way little airport in the middle of Casa Grande, where I am pretty sure that FAA does not know it exists, we proceed to sign 6 pages of waivers. Really? Six pages? How many possible things can I die from? Regardless, I initial all the boxes. So anyway, as we are sitting there waiting, a lady who was just getting back from a jump runs into the bathroom and proceeds to start barfing like in the movie The Omen. Did we really need that? It was echoing in that little hanger. Well now both of our stomachs are a little more unstable, but we are still good to go. Next step in the process is to get harnessed and meet our partner for the jump and get our training. They called it a tandem jump here, but I think in other locations it is the “altar boy” technique or a “Sandusky”. So training begins and ends rather quickly. I got to tell you, they can do a little more than a 30 second training when you are about to jump out of a plane. “Hold your harness. Arch your back. Spread your arms. Ok, let’s go.” Seriously, that was it. Well, now this is the part where most people would say “Why are you jumping out of a very good plane?” That statement does not apply to our plane. I was actually happy to be getting out of it. Our pilot had a chute on. Does that instill confidence? This plane was smaller than my car and was a glorified tin can. Alright, so now 5 of us pile into this “plane” and take off. Now I have my new best friend strapped to my back (in some countries we may be engaged) and we are climbing to 10,000 feet and the adrenaline is starting to kick up, but I am ok. This state of “ok” ends the moment that they open the door to the plane that is immediately to my left and the cold air starts whipping through the plane. Now, the adrenaline really starts pumping. Once we get my very inflexible legs to contort themselves to get out of the plane, this bastard just throws us out. No warning. No ready, set, go. It was just a plummeting to the ground. It was like zooming in on Google Earth. It is amazing how fast one does fall. We free fall for a bit and then again, with no warning, he pulls the chute. Holy raise my voice a few octaves Batman! I should have adjusted those straps around the upper thigh a little better. We floated down nicely. Great landing and watched my son do the same. I got a couple of years before my last child turns 18 and I have to go through this process again, but you know what? I can’t wait to spend some quality time with him too. Hopefully sharing a moment with him that he will remember forever that I am actually a part of. Maybe they are right. I am a brain donor.
