PRESIDENT’S CORNER
2014-June/July
by Kyle Jensen, MHA President
I was elected to be your president in 2012 after living in the neighborhood for only a few months. I have a wife, Stephanie, and a seven-month-old son named Colton who thinks he is a super hero. After hosting the Mistletoe Drive block party, I realized that I have not done a good job of letting you know who I am and where I hope to lead the neighborhood. With the advancement of the internet and game consoles, the idea of spending time outside with a neighbor has become foreign and, many times, awkward. I have numerous online friends but often find myself lonely. I talk to them daily but none of them really know me. Our kids' daily routines have changed from when we were kids. We talked with our friends face-to-face or on the phone, but now we speak to a name on a screen. In many ways, social media is anything but social; we open our computers only to shut our doors.
My goal is to remap these routines. My goal is to engage you to volunteer yourself back into the neighborhood, back into life. I have the opportunity to reach out to you once a month through this newsletter. I pray that someone finds something in these letters to be of value. Something that helps relieve some of the weight of life. In this issue, I have chosen to write some thoughts of fatherhood. I watch my son change day by day
and it scares me to know the pace of my clock has changed.
I don't know what your parenting experiences have held, but if you are anything like me, you are clueless about being a first-time dad. I really don't want to screw this up. I am on a journey to find out what it takes to be a good dad and now that my son is here, I have been asking others what works for them and what doesn't. My imagination has led me to think that the perfect quaint family has a home with plenty of room, a new SUV, a lawn that someone else mows and a dad that has it all figured out. I am afraid that doesn't exist. Every one of us have a story about our fathers and his influence on us; maybe he wasn't there, maybe he was there too much, maybe you feel it was your fault your dad bailed, maybe your last memory of your dad was when he hit your mom, maybe your dad made the journey a real labor of love.
Out of all the people I have talked to, there are very few that I would consider to have what I would call a normal dad. It is rare to hear my dad was awesome. We are still close. We shot hoops last night. Apparently there is no normal. I think I have been trying to paint the wrong picture. There is only one you, with the unique life experiences you bring to the world. So for the rest of us that are not running on the beach in white linen, there is good news! You're not alone. This neighborhood is full of dads that can relate to the everyday struggle of parenting. Your dad might not have been the best; you may not know your dad; or if you are like me, you don't know what you are doing half the time. I am an ordinary dad with ordinary flaws, trying to do my best.
For the next month, I will be exploring what it looks like for the rest of us. I will need dads to be more intentional, more present, and more aware of what it means to be a good dad, and then tell me about it. Please share with me your experiences at president@mistletoeheights.org.
Last month we asked you to share about your life and you did. Wow! We had lots of proud parents. If you missed out last month or want to share more, send it to newsletter@mistletoe heights.org. Keep the good news coming. It is fun to read what is happening around us. We are continuing to accept your experiences of "good will."
Our neighborhood is alive and well. We are communicating better than ever before.
Get connected. Be more engaging. We have lots of avenues to help you create a happy, health life.
-
Facebook Chat Room www.facebook.com/groups/ mhneighbors
-
NextDoor page www.mistletoeheights.nextdoor.com
-
Webpage www.mistletoeheights.org/contact
-
Next neighborhood meeting
-
The back of the newsletter
Join us as we make an effort to clean up our neighborhood and improve the quality of life for all those that live here.