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Hey Dad,

First, a little news from the Wilson house: I finally got around to fixing our trampoline, after letting it sit in a disheveled heap for nine months. I went all out. I had the broken welds repaired by an Amish welder, replaced all the brackets holding the upright posts, and added new bungee cords to attach the big net around the outside.

That was last Friday. On Saturday, my son Cal (2) broke his leg on the trampoline. He wasn't even jumping; he just fell awkwardly, and now he's scooting around in a fiberglass cast enjoying his celebrity status. So ends our trampolining days.

On a brighter note, Monday night I had one of those eureka fathering moments. Like the rest of the world, we've been watching the Olympics at our house, and apparently the kids were feeling a little Olympian-ish and were racing each other out in our yard. I think it was my daughter Katherine (11) who came panting up to me and said something like, "We're having our own Olympics."

Eureka! (That's when the moment hit.) I could kick myself for not having thought of it earlier. We should have a Wilson Olympics, I thought, and then remembered the fun we had 8 years ago when we hosted our own Olympic event in our backyard.

I shared the idea with my wife and she had been thinking the same thing. So here's the plan:

1. Pick up cheap prizes from Wal-Mart, like candy, frozen treats, or award ribbons.
2. Plan out a few simple events like:
   • running races
   • long jump
   • football throw—or maybe even the hammer throw (rope duct-taped to a basketball—yeah, boy!)
   • obstacle course
   • water balloon throw
   • Nerf gun shoot (maybe shoot something off mom's head)
3. Pick a night and do it.

I'm telling you, the kids will have a blast. Even the older ones will never forget the time we watched the Olympics and then had our own.

So, from one Olympic Dad to another, let me encourage you to have your own family Olympics. All you have to do is run a few races, throw some balls, shoot some hoops, race your bikes, or get out those pillows for an Olympic-proportion pillow fight. And then bask in the joy of being a family (and tell me how it turned out).

Make it happen.

You 'da Gold Medal Dad!

© 2008 Todd Wilson. Used by permission.

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