How to Keep Your Kids on the Straight and Narrow

This morning, and three times a week, every week, I drive by my dad's old office.  It's not significant in my memories for being his place of work, but for being the site of many early morning family bonding breakfasts.  Getting kids to wake up early?  That's a challenge in and of itself.  Getting them to wake up early to go to 6:30am Mass during the week?  That takes promises of Burger King and foxes.  Yes, I know, those two things don't go together in the average mind.  But for me, nothing says baby foxes like french toast sticks. 

My dad used to wake us all up super early (at least in the mind of a 10-year-old) and we'd pull some clothes on and drive close-lidded to St. Thomas More.  Well, Dad would drive, and I'm pretty sure he was fully awake.  We'd sit through daily Mass like good kids, our minds ever on the prize.  A quick drive-thru BK run, and off to Dad's office.  He'd park facing the field, and we'd open our syrup packets and park a cheek on the curb, eyes glued to the tall grass below.  Usually about midway through my second french toast stick, we'd catch a glimpse of movement.  Baby foxes, not more than a couple months old, would poke their heads up as the sun rose.  Sometimes they were timid, and the early morning would barely be worth it.  Other times, they'd put on a show, romping and playing in the open for our pure enjoyment.

That was our tradition every spring.  Church and family bonding.  I think if more families put a little effort into time spent together, we'd have a society whose values more closely mirror what they should.  I blame those pre-dawn excursions on my love of food, the outdoors, and the Catholic Church.  A parent certainly could've done worse.