March 14, 2023

What is the best day of your life? For many people they point to days of major events: weddings, graduations, the best day of a weeklong vacation you took years to plan. So many seem motivated uniquely to create or craft that perfect day, to have something to stand out against the monotony of everyday life. For me though my best days are simply average days that turn into something more, a day that becomes an example of a great time in my life.

March 14, 2023 was one of the best days in my life, but nothing happened that day that took weeks to plan or there was no event that was anticipated. In fact the day before was an outright not great day, as Finn was sick at home running a fever and I was trying to figure out how to balance him not being able to go back to daycare for at least another day. But by the end of that extra day I had had one of the best days with him I ever had, and the sort of day that made me feel great about the decision to be a dad. 

The lead up to March 14 is what set the table. First of all was my New Years resolution for 2023 to try and do what I could to improve Finn's life and overcome of the parts of my lacking parenthood that I felt guilt about leading into 2023. You always want to do best for your kid, but by the end of 2022 I felt like I wasn't as the momentum towards getting him diagnosed for autism died off during the tail end of COVID restrictions. Yet by March 14 progress there had been made and I felt like I could be proud to be a dad again. 

Another factor was Finn himself getting into a new stage of life that was very enjoyable to me. Most of 2022 was very frustrating, as I had to say goodbye to a toddler Finn that relied on me and Lindsey for so much and he was replaced with a little boy who was independent and I didn't know how to handle. By the end of 2022 I was coming to grips with how the new version of Finn operated, I had said goodbye to the toddler version of him, and I was ready to take on new experiences to bond with a more capable kid. 

March 14th started slow, as we hung around the house doing not much of anything except ensure his fever was broken and sickness was gone. I had a new obsession of the time to go back to an old project (my tv server) and fix it before it started to lose its data as I had ignored it for years with the rise of streaming service but Lindsey wanted content (Stargate SG1) that wasn't streaming anywhere but was on my server. 

To fix my media server I needed a new PCIe networking card, which is something easy to buy online but I wanted to find a place in Austin that would sell me one. With Fry's gone that meant going to a local computer repair shop actually in the city. And so once I confirmed Finn wasn't having a fever anymore and was feeling better we left the house on this mission. 

Before going to Austin we stopped at a breakfast place that opened nearby, and the whole time Finn was in a great mood and ate well for the first time in days. I took pictures and soaked up the moment. Then we went down into Austin to a computer store (Discount Electronics) and I got the part I needed while Finn wowed at all the monitors they had in the store. He got excited about helping me get a computer part, but to get him to leave I had to promise to take him to a toy store. 

Before we left I made sure to realize that I was living a dream I had had since before I was a dad. Ten years ago I saw a Reddit post about a dad who bonded with a daughter by helping her build her first computer, and it was the first memory I have of really wanting to be a dad. On March 14, 2023 I finally had that moment when I got to share a lifelong love with my son. 

Unfortunately though, for the most part toy stores don't exist. I mean you might find a place in a mall taking up the space selling small toys, and in Austin there are places that sell classic wooden toys for nostalgia but Toys R Us is gone. Despite this I found a place on Google Maps that called itself a toy store called Wonko's Toys and Games and I decided to stop to keep my promise there on the way back. 

What we found was a D&D figurine store basically. One wall was filled with them, the other wall filled with highend board games. Luckily in the corner was a single rotating display with knickknack toys. Finn picked out a pop bracelet he liked and we took it to the counter to pay. The old woman who ran the store looked at us curiously, but then I told her "you have to get them young right?" and she noddingly approved. Then we headed home to finish our amazing day, a day so amazing I am still basking in the afterglow.