Trout Republic

As many of you already know, Miss Trixie and Ol’ Dutch have been busy this year with building a new house. It's a labor of love for sure as most of the work is being done by Yours Truly, the old mountain man himself. And of course, that means that progress on some days can be measured in small increments but the slow and steady wins the race they say. I sure hope so.

Recently warmer weather has accompanied our efforts, but it does have its drawbacks as evidenced by this past week's tornado activities. Generally speaking, it takes hotter days to spawn those demons from Hell and we went from nice 60-degree days to 80 seemingly overnight and will be pushing 100 sooner than you think.

The warm weather does bring about a change in people's activities, of course. The Big Box stores have potted plants for sale by the millions, kids are playing outdoor sports, and boats are being sold to naive buyers who have yet to learn the two best days when buying a boat is the day you buy it and the day you sell it.

No matter where you look there are families with children of every age and description. I can't help but think that just some short years ago these same parents were carefree and fun-loving youngsters themselves. They decided, though, that lugging around diaper bags, strollers, and car seats would be more “fun.” And not to be outdone by their friends, they all seem to be purchasing plastic wagons to carry the plethora of things needed on a typical family outing.

Attending a soccer match the sidelines look like a tailgating party with all the chairs, coats, food, balls and rugrats in their red wagons all gathered in a circle like the pioneers of old. And Ol’ Dutch can only sit and smile at the harried look on the parents' faces as they try and keep it all together one more Saturday.

Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie can feel at least a little of their frustrations as we have had to try and find a way to attend soccer games, volleyball games and horse shows in different towns on the same day in the midst of Dallas-level traffic. Often, it's a race to the next spot to hopefully get there in time to see the next grand play.

So, I can sense that same frustration in the lives of young parents as they have to split up as a couple to try and make it all work. God help the ones that have four or five kids as I have no idea how they make that all work.

All this pressure often boils over at the games and these once sane parents can be seen pulling their hair out individually and as a couple. You can tell they have given up on maintaining sanity when they simply hand money over to the baby of the family for concessions in copious quantities just to shut them up.

Another place I often see families or at least some families is at the big lumber stores like Lowes and Home Depot. For it is here that you will find the dads with the kids and mom is nowhere in sight. I finally figured out this is because the mother has “had enough” and told the dad to “take these kids and get them out of this house.” The kids are generally well-behaved as they know they have “hit the wall” as far as being mischievous with their mothers all week and dad is not going to put up with that nonsense.

And to their credit the moms do get hit with most of the work with the kids all week and their dad has learned that aged old saying “happy wife, happy life” to be true. Good luck to all of you that have to balance kids' activities against work and schedules this Spring and Summer. And if you are a dad, grab those rugrats and get them out from under foot around the house. These times will not last forever. It will just seem like it.

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.