The Important Things

While pulling boogie boards out of the back of my dads car at the beach yesterday, he proudly and excitedly pointed out to me the "Aztec Parent, San Diego State University" sticker placed skillfully in the top center of his back window. Normally my dad would not place any kind of bumper stickers or anything at all on his car (even though it's an '86 Toyota Forrunner). I think when adults become parents they change their views on what is "cool" or acceptable.
For instance, take my dad's garage. It's never been a place to park cars, but rather a workshop for him, and a storage area as well that he proudly keeps organized and clean. The rest of the family rarely goes in there, but when I went in the other day I saw pictures of myself in preschool and drawings I had done at the age where it was just random scribbles on paper, taking away from the "manly" garage. There were pictures of Emily as well and things she had done too. I remember in arts and crafts at Day Camp where I made a pencil holder that I was so proud of (it only had 2 slots for pencils, and one was too small) that I had given to my dad as a Birthday present, I found that in the garage too, not tossed aside, but proudly displayed with it's one pencil.
Funny how what adults used to view as the important things in life, change so much once they have kids and a family of their own.