The $20,000 T-Shirt

Have you ever felt like you were failing as a parent? Me too.

At a random moment together in the kitchen, my wife asked me what I was teaching our two kids. The question ran through me like a 12-gauge shotgun slug. Immediately, I did what I always did: backpedaled and played defense. After some quiet time and reflection though, I let go of the ego trip; she was right. I wasn’t teaching them anything other than potty humor (poop jokes are hilarious though.)

I was mad at myself. Mad at the world. The same things I hated in my Dad - the silence, keeping all the wisdom and honesty inside - were the same things I was doing to my kids. I was failing as a father, just as mine had done to me. Nope. No more. The generational bad habits stopped here.

When enough time passed, and the statute of limitations on my wife’s idea ran out, I decided to do something about it.

The task was difficult; the obstacles, many. For the love of his kids, a spreadsheet guy was forced to play in the literary world. The $20,000 T-Shirt is the response to my shortfall as a parent. I’m passing down to my kids what I know to be true, not out of moral obligation, but out of love.