SORRY, TOO BUSY

 SUBURBAN SUPERDAD 

Sorry, too b usy

Use Use thisthis phrasephrase with with ca caution, ution, especiallyespecially when when it comes to parental visits

This is it, people. The m rehearsing in your mind oment you’ve been for more than a For the past year, most of us haven’t even had to consider how to respond to invitations to attend And, as an aging dad, con when my young ones are templating the moment no longer so young year has finally arrived. events here and there, those occasions that once themselves and head out on their own, I can tell

It’s summer. And, by that, I don’t just mean “summer.” We’re talking “The Summer,” the one in which everything goes back to normal, or at least as close dotted our calendars: weddings, birthday parties, cookouts, graduations and other sundry gatherings family and friends. of you they are most likely also looking forward to the moment you again knock on their door — and not j on the greeting card holidays in May and June that ust as we can get. In the past own, in its year, the busyness has come all on its own peculiar way. Many of us who fancied guilt us into putting up with them for a few hours.

Baseball stadiums and beaches will be full again ourselves Masters of Time and Balancers of Schedules So, after the initial post-pandemic obligatory visit, (and not just in Florida). Outdoor concerts will bump. found ourselves, amid the scramble to make sense of just before the coming blizzard of long-delayed social

Festivals will fiesta, and parades will march. Fireworks the new reality, trying desperately to decipher how functions, sporting events, concerts and more, can will light up the night sky once more. Many of us will it is the hours of the day still managed to run away we resolve to be a bit more sparing with the phrase, undoubtedly hit the road, heading out on those longfrom us, like bathwater down the drain, no matter how “Sorry, too busy,” when our parents just want to see delayed family vacations — or non-family getaways, incessantly we tried to plug the gap. us a few more times before they pass? as your situation and needs warrant. No judgment here. Life as we knew it will return, though, admittedly with Now, reemerging merging onto the jarring. into the old pace may feel like interstate from a cul-de-sac. It’s Because, if we emerge from a pandemic and just return to normal, still trusting in the illusion of the promise of tomorrow, we — and our parents — may a few alterations. And to my thinking, it wouldn’t be Others will undoubtedly embrace it, as we exult in the be left wondering: so bad if some of those alterations stuck with us a rush of the helter-skelter, trying to make up for lost bit longer. time. Were we actually even paying attention?

For instance, even with restaurants returning to full But as the world reopens, may I recommend we again capacity, would it be so bad to keep just a bit of space consider those big reasons we gave for locking down between the tables? Dining is much more enjoyable — or at least taking precautions — in the first place? without a side of your neighbor’s elbow, or without Namely, for the purposes of this missive, allow me to risking your conversation being drowned out by a loud put in a word for dear old mom and dad. You know, talker situated 2 feet to your left. those people so many of you said you were trying to protect by staying home?

And I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be just fine with cities continuing to convert downtown Sure, many of us have, shall we say, complicated streets into alfresco food fairs — at least on relationships with our folks. But if you’ve spent the weekends, if not all summer long. past year terrified at the thought of passing on a deadly respiratory disease to ol’ ma and pa, this is it:

But another change that should linger? A bit more the moment you’ve said you’ve wanted, to go back judicious use of the phrase: “Sorry, too busy.” and see them.  JonathanBilykwrites aboutthetriumphsand travailsofbeinga modernday dadwho legitimately enjoystimewithhisfamily , whiletoleratinga dog that seemstoadore him. Healsodoesn’treallylike themoniker“Superdad” becauseitmakesitsoundlike he wantstowearhis undergarments on theoutsideofhis pants.(Also, thecaperemainsonbackorder.)