Unexpected Fatherhood

I hope all is well with you and yours. June is a very special month for me: it is a double anniversary celebration: on June 1st, I celebrated twenty years living in America. Yeah, two full decades here on the land of opportunities.

Also, yesterday my babe turned fourteen. I am a proud father of a fast growing teenager. So, this weekend I am celebrating with a big party. But if you just joined me now, let me bring you up to speed:

Unexpected Fatherhood

It was early summer of 2006. I was remodeling my newly acquired condo in Hopkinton, MA. One afternoon, after a hard working construction day, I was carried away by emotion and did something without thinking of the consequences. Honestly I did not plan for it, and neither did I have enough rainy day funds as I should have.

I thought it was going to be just a summer working affair.

And as any new parents experience, some days were very rough, and some days made me super excited and confident of my decision.

My baby’s name is: Shades IN Place Inc.

As I’ve said above, I did not plan for this originally. I was a truck driver back then working for a big company with full benefits and all of the good stuff, and never thought I could survive having window shades as my only source of income. Boy, was I wrong!

The next natural step, after her name and the first photo (the logo), was to buy a layette set (uniform), some baby equipment (tools) and a small carriage (my pickup truck) to haul everything around.

The first diaper change (installation) took me literally THREE hours and lots of sweat and frustration on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I could fake it all I wanted, but it was clear that fatherhood was something new to me then. 

I was determined to refine my parenthood skills, and took as much parent’s counseling (training & certifications) as I possibly could, to up my game. I was determined to set some good examples for my kid. Today I would perform a similar diaper change in under 20 min. Yeah, practice makes perfection.

Over the years, as my babe got older, she also got bolder and more adventurous, and we started to do some traveling. Currently we have done work in seven states, plus the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

The toys also evolved: from simple, small, and manual operation to complex, rather large, and electronic. Yeah, technology is awesome. Would you rather trade your iPhone back to that Motorola flip phone again?

I didn’t think so.

And when it comes to talking about my own kid, I prefer to let others do it instead. Check out some of the 500+ (5 stars) comments posted all over the internet and social media:
Houzz (87)Facebook (27)Google (94)Customer Lobby (337)

In 2009, I started this very blog where I would share mundane stories of a shady daddy and his proud kid. Apparently, it hit the ground running, and people liked it so much, that in 2011 I was invited to write about my shady experiences to colleagues all over my industry via trade magazines.

One thing leads to another, and now this proud daddy even teaches classes and shares his techniques with like-minded parents (professionals) all over America.

But no family is complete without a mother figure. And mommy Ana is a very important key element in this whole American Dream novel. She is the glue that keeps us bonded and well mannered.

I really wanted to throw a giant appreciation party to you and the other 4,000 guests (clients, friends and supporters) we have accumulated over the years, but Corona came in first, and crashed the plans.  Bummer, I know!

Just know that I am eternally grateful for each and every one of you who continue to support my kid and I,

Roger