George, your a great Dad, I watch you as you teach Pete how to run the boat, like the other night, youre a great teacher and more importantly to Pete is you are his friend, he can count on you as do Nick and Colin. There is mutual admiration there, a deep bond built by giving them your time even though it may not have been doing what you wanted to do.
I don't have sons, I was blessed with two wonderful and wonderfully different daughters, I never believed in forcing them into anything I like to do. To me forcing them to become a "mini-me" is just totally wrong. They need to become thier own persons with thier own likes and dislikes and as a parent our job was to fgure that out and foster growth in what is that they seemd to want to be involved in. That train of thought is so prevalent in our family that no one is named after anyone else on my side of the family, from birth you are an individual and the first thing you get is an individual identity starting with your first and middle name.
Parenting is a tough job, one should never make it tougher on themselves or thier children by forcing them to be or do something they have no interest in. And the greatest gift you could ever give them is your time and show them your willingness to share that time regardless of the endeavor.
That they will always remember and respect you for and most importantly love you for it.
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