Mitglieder-Steckbriefe » re the camp week was to start, I wa

Camp Dad launched, not unexpectedly, as a result of standard #daaad-level buffoonery.Last July, tasked with securing a place at summer camp for my then-9-year-old and then-6-year-old, I completely missed a week. Didnt register them. Flat-out forgot.The evening before the camp week was to start, I was frantically surfing through camp option after camp option -- the ones the kids wanted to do were sold out (or way too pricey for our budget).I was consulting at the time and able to take the week off from work (a luxury a lot parents dont have, short of investing their own vacation time). So partly out of desperation, partly out of price-sensitivity, partly out of the creative challenge and partly out of blissful ignorance, I decided at 11 that night to create my own camp -- a weeks worth of fun and creativity, directed by me.The kids would have no idea whats coming -- in large part, neither did I. I gave myself a budget of slightly less than what I would have spent on normal camp for them to cover a week of programming and started making a list of activities wed normally never do.The next morning, I didnt tell them what we were doing or where we were going, but it started with a surprise trip to the bulk-candy store. The kids jaws dropped -- then were stuffed with the kind of absurd candy Id never typically let them have. Camp Dad was so on.I knew regular dad Dan Shanoff could never handle the kind of fun that Camp Dad director Dan Shanoff, so I channeled a muse: Tripper Harrison, Bill Murrays seminal camp-counselor character from Meatballs, the greatest summer-camp movie of all time. If you have never seen the pivotal It... Just... Doesnt... Matter! speech by Murray, this succinctly showcases my inspiration.?*Candy overdose? It just doesnt matter!*Chuck E. Cheese? It just doesnt matter!*Sketchy water park 40 miles away? It just doesnt matter!*Quasi-harrowing parkour lessons? It just doesnt matter!*Abandoning bedtime routines by binge-watching all six Star Wars movies over six nights? It just doesnt matter!There was more -- so much more. Ice skating. Being the only non-family members at the local high school varsity basketball summer league games. Pizza. Ice cream sundaes. Screen time on all of the apps Id never normally let them use. Every day was filled with new adventures. The kids had no idea what was coming but approached every day with a glee like I had never seen before.At the end of the week, both kids said it was the best week of their lives. And if Im being honest with myself -- no offense to the attendees at my wedding or the folks who helped deliver our children -- it was the best week of my life, too.I could attribute their (and my) enthusiasm to the epic lineup of fun activities that I barraged them with -- what parent doesnt want to see their kids having such a great time or get feedback like This was the best week ever, Dad!But as I figure out what kinds of fun activities I am staking out for this summer, I realize it wasnt the mayhem -- it was my mentality.What mattered most was It just doesnt matter.When I fully embraced that idea, all typical parenting pressures evaporated in the July sunshine. I wasnt Dad -- I was Bill Murrays Tripper Harrison. The kids were relaxed. Heck, I was relaxed, despite the overload of activities and sensory inputs. (I even had patience at Chuck E. Cheese -- what bigger testimony could there be?)Im not sure I can live the Camp Dad lifestyle all the time -- it was summer, I took the week off, it was all new for the kids (and me). There were a lot of things that made it unique.But applying even a little It Just Doesnt Matter to my life worked wonders, and I had as much fun as the kids did. We may or may not have another year of Camp Dad this summer, but there is nothing stopping me -- or any of us -- from easing up just enough to make the summer more awesome.Dan Shanoff writes about parenting for espnW. Continue this conversation on Twitter by following him at @danshanoff or by liking espnWs Facebook page. Cheap Mavericks Jerseys . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Wholesale Mavericks Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.cheapmavericksjerseys.com/ .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Luka Doncic Jersey . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Cheap Mavericks Jerseys China . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Indias opener, Murali Vijay, joined forces with Cheteshwar Pujara to score his sixth Test ton, on the third day, of the first Test against England being played in Rajkot on Friday.India began the day still 474 runs a drift from Englands massive 537-run first-innings total. Openers, Vijay and Gautam Gambhir, had negotiated 23 overs successfully on the second day, but they knew that their job was far from finished.England, buoyed by a huge total to defend, struck from just the seventh delivery of the day, with Gambhir being trapped lbw by Stuart Broad for 29. His dismissal brought Pujara to the fore. In the first session Chris Woakes tested the batsmen with a five-over spell of six runs and three body blows for Pujara.In the second session Broad went 5-4-1-0, targeting that bare patch just short of a driving length. In the final session Broad and Ben Stokes tested with the new ball. Pujara, known for being circumspect early in his innings, took on the challenge and played more freely than his normally more aggressive partner.Vijay, sat seemingly dormant for large parts of his innings, but targeted the spinners by resorting to the lofted shot. He attempted it six times, and smashed two sixes each off Moeen Ali and Zafar Ansari, and a four each off Zafar Ansari and Adil Rashid.While Pujara took 74 balls for his fifty, Vijay took 129. He had his share of lucck on 66, when debutant Haseeb Hameed grassed him at cover.dddddddddddd He made the most of the reprieve and raced to his ton with two impressive boundaries of Stuart Broad in the 84th over, just three overs after Pujara had scored his ninth ton.The 209-run stand between Vijay and Pujara made them the most prolific duo for India since the start of 2010, outscoring Gambhir and Virender Sehwag who had amassed 1908 runs in 44 innings they batted together.Ben Stokes finally broke the stand in the 92nd over by dismissing Pujara for a 206-ball 124. In the dying overs of the days play, Rashid got Vijay caught at short leg with a googly, for a 301-ball 126. Vijays 126 is his lowest 100-plus score. His lowest score in six previous Test centuries was 139. His strike rate of 41.86 in this innings is his second-lowest among centuries. At stumps, India had scored 319 runs and are 19 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.They bowled good lines, when the ball started reversing it was tough. I knew that if I stayed there I would get loose balls, Pujara said. Sometimes you have to respect the bowlers in international cricket. Im expecting it to turn from day four and five. Hopefully we can get a lead and then you never know, we have a chance. ' ' '