Father's Day

You know you're not single anymore...when you realize that this Father's Day will be your first Father's Day as a father...You honestly have not even thought about Father's Day since you quit celebrating Father's Day several years ago after the deaths of your Dad and Grandfather and it's only been a day of honoring memories of them...But now that you're someone else's "Padre'", this day has a whole new meaning...You are humbled because you recognize you've had to go through fast track training to become a father of teenagers overnight...although you don't mind you skipped over the "changing diaper, crying all night, no sleep for you" stages of your children's development!... You know you've had successes and some bumps in the road in this brief transition and you are grateful for the grace and patience your wife and kids have shown you...But ultimately your realize that fatherhood is a gift and you know how blessed you are to not only have the gifts of two of the smartest, most caring, funny, hard-working, loving kids but that you have a chance to influence your kids' understanding of what "father" really means to them...You pray each day that you will become a better dad to your kids than you were the day before and that your kids will always know that they are safe, protected, cared for, and deeply loved by you.

Front Seat

You know you're not single anymore...when your son and daughter fight for the front seat every time you take them somewhere in your truck...for whoever is in the front seat has control of the radio...One time your daughter got smart and used reverse psychology on your son by saying how much better the back seat is...For a while your son bought it and started to ask for the back seat and your daughter would say "just to keep you happy I'll let you sit back there!"...But your son is no dummy and recently has wised up and figured out what was going on and he now says "since the back seat is so nice I'll let you sit back there today"...in which case you daughter sits in the back seat to keep up the charade...you quietly chuckle as this battle wages on.

Spoons

You know you're not single anymore...when you notice that even after the big move, you can't find as many spoons as you thought you had...You look to your wife and ask "Honey, where is all the silverware we brought from my old house?"...Her response without hesitation, "Honestly, I do not know where it is."...You think for a second because that answer was way too quick and planned and then you ask, "Did you send it to Goodwill?"...She gives a wink and says, "You did say I could get rid of whatever we didn't need."...You admit you did say that, "But honey, I think we're still low on spoons."...She reaches over to a cardboard box and brings out a plastic spoon, "Here, there's plenty of these!"...After a chuckle, you realize you do love your wife's great sense of humor!

Home Alone

You know you're not single anymore...when your wife and kids leave for the day and you realize you are home alone for the first time that you can remember...Even though there are left overs in the fridge, you choose to go to a restaurant you like but the kids do not like to eat there (you remember the days when you used to eat Mexican at least once a week!)...You get home and turn up the sound system with the music you like to hear (Ah, that's what I'm talking about)...You do a few projects around the house and then you see a stack of laundry that needs to be folded...As you start folding various shirts, you realize you associate certain clothes with memories you have of your family when they wore them last...Even though it's been a few hours and even with loud music, the house is too quiet and you realize you already miss your family...You are grateful when your wife walks in  later that evening (the kids are spending the night at their friends' houses) and once again you are reminded how blessed you are to have a family.

Learning To Say "NO"

You know you're not single anymore...when you learn how to say "no" to your kids...at first when they wanted to do something, you were like "sure, let's do that!"...then when they wanted something when you were tired, you were like "maybe, we'll see if we can do that!"...Now that you live with your kids everyday, you've learned to say "not today, but later" and sometimes even plain old fashioned "no"...It's not that you don't want to spend time with your kids, in fact you absolutely do...but you realize that everything has to be in balance and living a lifestyle of fun, fun, fun is unrealistic when there are chores and other things that need to be done around the house with a family budget...Of course, when it comes to your wife, "no" is never the correct answer...but rather, "yes dear."

Sunday School

You know you're not single anymore...when you visit a new church that has a traditional Sunday School and you can't find which class you're supposed to go in...you've always gone to Singles classes before but that's not the issue...You're too old for the Newly Married class and the "Young" Couples class...But you're too young for the next couples age class which has children who have already left the house...What a dilemma!...You decide to go young and just be the older ones in the class...You decide they need to make a class for newly married with teenagers in the house...but then you would be the only ones in that class...at least you know you would get a donut and enough coffee would be made for you!