28 June, 2006

Personal: Woo Hoo!

It's a happy night, and a wonderful relief too.

I found something fun to do with my daughter, Geocaching. We didn't have a miraculous bonding moment or anything, but it was amusing eventually, and we talked the whole time rather than sitting with our eyes focused on the big screen. She even said she had fun. Praise the Lord.

There's a $100 investment for a handheld GPS unit, but it's worth every penny.

A cache is a little tupperware container full of little toys and a logbook. It is hidden somewhere, and its position is recorded and posted up to Geocache.com with a couple of clues how to find it. As the treasure hunter, my daughter and I took off and found a cache or two. After you find it, you take a toy, and leave a toy plus a couple notes in the little log book, then move on.

From the website:
There are 281971 active caches in 222 countries. In the last 7 days, there have been 180010 new logs written by 30745 account holders.

I can very nearly guarantee that there is a little tupperware cache somewhere near you. There were 4 caches in the lake park my daughter frequents, and there are two in my immediate neighborhood. There are even hundreds in downtown Columbus. That's good, because I learned tonight that my daughter does not really enjoy walking in bug-infested woods. Our next trip will be in the Short North - the yuppie and tattoo corner of Columbus that she really enjoys. It's cool, because it lets her be where she wants to be, and gives me an excuse to be there. We can even stop for a tea or some such if she will indulge me. :-)

If you have kids or friends or spare time or just a desire to get out and walk/jog toward something more than the "turn-around" at the end of the outbound journey, I recommend geocaching. And for those of you creative types (and you know who you are,) you can start leaving cool toys and advance to making up your own caches, planting "travel bugs", and solving or making whole multi-part, all day puzzles.

24 comments:

Milly said...

I've hear of it and even seen some of those folks looking for them at the park/zoo I think my kids would enjoy it. Bugs and all, well as long as they don't land on Miss Little. She screams.

I'm happy for you in finding a way to connect. You've never said her age. I assume it's the eye rolling my parents are so uncool, but their parents are cool age. Trust me she will someday tell your grandchildren how great you were when she was growing up. (I think my dad is cool and I tell my children about how he was when I was young :-)

DougALug said...

CP,

Sounds really cool. I might have to invest in one.

God Bless
Doug

Andreia Huff said...

That sounds so very cool! I think our gang could definately have fun with this. Thanks for the idea!

I applaud you for seeking out things to do with her. All I ever wanted from my dad was just a little time doing fun stuff. The church was always so much more important : (

A few years ago he called me and told me he wanted to take me fishing. It was about 20 years too late for me as fishing had lost it's nuance.

So kudos to you. You are doing an awesome thing by trying to pull her out and find out what she enjoys.

Milly said...

Andreia,
Too bad that he waited so long to reach out to you to fish. I received a fishing pole from my dad one Father's Day. I still have it and use it. I wish that I had more time to spend fishing with dad. I don’t always use bait, he thinks that’s nuts. He and I do take a trip for peaches and corn once a year. My sister thinks we’re nuts to go so far for things that she can find down the street. It’s about the journey. <'{{><

Kevin Knox said...

There are two geocaches in the fashionably counter-culture part of Columbus, so we ought to have one good night there. Then I have to start thinking of other places to look that she would like.

She's 18 now. They don't like miniature golf any more, so it's tough to find those little things. Most of the things that jazz me leave her cold, and it's hard to get past that. Given the option of movies, painting, and knitting I had gone for the movies.

I like this a lot better.

Milly said...

Painting? You could go to one of those places where you paint plates and stuff they have some fun mosaic places also.
At eighteen my dad and I took walks and to ran (Grandpa was visiting once. Dad looked at me and said “Come on let’s go for a run” I think mom was about to yell at grandpa. Nothing new)

At eighteen we are trying to break away from daddy. Only to grow up not to walk away we still need daddy, at least I do. :-} You are such a good daddy to try to reach out to have fun with you children.

Andreia Huff said...

Kevin,
How about shopping? I know it seems silly but my husband takes my daughter shopping for clothes, earrings and the like. She just eats it up. They dont spend much (most of the time) but she still loves it. They usually end the trip with dinner.

Of course my daughter is just five and yours is eighteen but maybe if you can find something she likes (old albums, vintage clothing, tatoos???) you could go looking for it.

Milly~He did what he knew to do and I hold no grudges whatsoever it just makes it harder to connect now because we never made the effort earlier, not really at least.

Kevin Knox said...

Milly and Andreia,

Both good ideas, but I don't know that I am man enough for them. My taste and opinion are both despised, and that makes for a pretty unpleasant experience for me. I suspect that it's not a lot of fun for her, either. My puritanism doesn't sit well with her, so anything that can be subject to taste or judgement is a hard sell.

Andreia Huff said...

Codepoke!
May I gently suggest that is not about your taste or opinion? Come on! You can do it. You are doing it! You are man enough. Just consider agreeing with her choices as a mental exercise like debating the tenents of Arminianism.

Kevin Knox said...

Andreia,

I was not clear. Oh, I would go and smile and be happy, but I'm not wanted. I will offer the opportunity to her, though.

Milly said...

My dad and shopping for cloths NOOOO! He did take my Little shoe shopping he had to deal with her shoe obsession. She can and will try them all on. He hid his wallet when she spotted the dresses. Poor grappa.

As for tattoos I’m in my forties with two kids and my father said no way. I can’t see Codepoke going for that. The henna ones are cool and fade. Coffee houses in the fun area for her are great.

Try asking her opinion on things like repainting a room in the house. Your cloths stuff like that let her know you value her opinions. She might like putting a scrap book together. They have some cool stuff now.

Man eighteen was an odd time for me. You are on this threshold of something only you aren’t sure of what. I know that in no way helps but she could be a bit afraid of the next steps in life. Growing up is hard.

Andreia Huff said...

Codepoke
Bummer. I guess wooing a woman ain't so easy, huh?

How much time do you have with her? Is she due to leave the nest soon?

Kevin Knox said...

She's at mom's nest, and heads off for college (4 states away) in August. She's a great person, and treats me well. I'm just trying to stay in touch with someone trying to be independent of me. Our differences should thaw a bit in a decade or so. I want to make sure there's as much to build on as possible when that day comes.

Milly said...

You are a good daddy. :-}

Anonymous said...

The geocaching sounds too cool! That's great, dude! And of course, if you really want to make an impression...you could always buy her more of my jewelry... (HA HA!!)

salguod said...

Man, I could have saved you $100. Try Letterboxing. Same thing but no GPS required, not toys required. You will need a log book, a compass, a rubber stamp and a stamp pad. In the Letterbox that you find there will be another stamp and a log book. Stamp your stamp in the box's book and the box's stamp in yours.

We've been letterboxing for a couple for years. There are several good one's here in Columbus that we've found as well as a few in Hocking Hills.

Milly said...

salguod,
Too cool I'm going to take the kids as soon as I see a day off!
Thanks!

God's Woman said...

Do it, Cowboy! Get a tattoo!

Okay, back to reality--there is no pretense with my girls and their Dad--he doesn't fit into their teen-age lifestyle. End of story.
But they know who LOVES THEM. End of story.

Your girl knows who loves her and who the coolest codepoker on the planet is. (Yes, I ended my sentence with a preposition. It's midnight).

"Reviving Ophelia" and "Ophelia Speaks" are two books that helped me understand the hurricane that hit my life when Em was 14.

Maybe an earring?

Kevin Knox said...

Yeah, Patchouli,

Reality and tattoos do not mix for me. :-D

As for the earring, I did the research before she got her first cartilage piercing. It was not my favorite subject of study, but we made it.

Kevin Knox said...

Salgoud,

Letterboxing does sound cool.

I'm taking the boy camping next week, so my plans included a GPS anyway. That, and he loves to measure his progress when running. The GPS shows his track, distance, time, top speed, etc. All stuff that makes him happy. And I'm giving my daughter one with built-in maps, so that she can find her way around her new college town when she gets there.

Milly said...

cartilage piercing?

I so don't get it. Last night a guy had a piercing in his back Isn't it important to take care of your spine? Then again the Tats and his pants being way to low FTL a showing tells me he doesn’t care. Am I just too darn old to understand? He did small nice.

Andreia Huff said...

I read somewhere that 25% of the American public have tatoos. If true, isn't that amazing?
And to think Milly, that the little state of Oklahoma is just now getting in on the gig!

Milly said...

We are legal now! That’s right dancing at the prom=liquor by the drink= gambling=lottery= tattoos. See your elders were right, no good could come of it, now darn good.

Milly said...

I've decided against a tattoo. I'm ascared of it looking icky and being stuck looking at the thing every day. Plus I’ve seen some pretty ugly ones.