No Girls Allowed Day

We have a new summer schedule around the Prince House. Karla is working two days a week (Mondays and Thursdays) so I am now taking Thursdays off (instead of Fridays) to be home with the boys. Thursdays will be “Only Boys Days” at our house. No Girls allowed.

When my boys were younger, when all girls were considered the enemy, the edict “No Girls Allowed” brought a welcome relief from those cootie yielding females. When Karla would go away to a retreat or some such place, we would put a sign on our front door warding off all non-male types. With the big thick Crayolas we would write on the sign: NO GIRLS ALLOWED!!! Girls were yucky. They were to be avoided at all cost in those days. I remember, Ben crying at one lunch time because he wanted a “Boy’s cheese Sandwich,” and did not want to eat a “girled (grilled) cheese sandwich.” And when his soccer team lost to an all girls team, you’d have thought the world was about to come to an end. But those days are gone. Like the old Detroit Tiger announcer Ernie Harwell used to say those days are “Long gone!” Now they like being around the fairer creatures, but on Thursdays I will hold my ground: No Girls Allowed!

On our “No Girls Allowed Days” we will be doing manly types of adventures. So today we will head to the World War I museum at the Liberty Memorial in downtown Kansas City. What could be more manly (manlier) than a place that honors those that saved freedom by fighting in the trenches for God and country? We might have to stop off at Fritz’s in Crown Center for a burger via a train. (Any time you can order your food over the phone and have a machine bring it to your table, I say that’s a manly kind of place.) In the days ahead, we will go to the Negro League Museum, Cabela’s, a few other local manly spots and possibly Oceans of Fun. The boys have assured me that there won’t be any girls there (I can see that there needs to be a lesson on truth and honesty in our times together).

The goals for our Thursday “No Girl’s Allowed” days are simple: Be together. Make memories. Enjoy these moments. My boys are 15 and 12 years old. Everyone who has traveled this road before me has said, “Before you know it you’ll be shipping them off to college.” I’m sure that’s true, so building memories and creating moments seems to be pretty important for these days.

We’ve been working on goals as a pastoral staff and church board. We call them our F.O.C.U.S. Goals. And the “F” of FOCUS stands for: FAMILY FIRST. That’s what our Thursday No Girls Allowed Days are about—family first. Can I encourage you to have similar days this summer? Oh they don’t have to be Manly Days, or “No Girls Allowed Days,” but have some Family First Days.