I’m a children’s pastor in a small town. And I’ve been here in Hayward for almost 10 years now. This longevity has afforded me some credibility in relationships, mainly with kids. Whether I’m shopping at Walmart, going for a walk, or visiting the school lunchroom, I always have kids saying hi to me.
Almost 6 years ago, my wife and I became parents and little did I know it then, but my street cred with kids would eventually change.
And it happened the other day. I was greeting a two year-old and instead of her saying: “Hi, Jeremy!” She said: “Where’s Sari and Macie?” (These are the names of my daughters.) This was the first time my kids were more important than me!!
When I go to the school lunchroom now, I am no longer Jeremy, but I’m Sari’s dad. Kids used to ask me who’s dad I was and I always told them no one, until I had kids and then I said they were too young for school. I told kids that I come to eat with them because I like spending time with them where they “worked.” Now I’m just another dad to the kids in the school lunchroom.
Oh well. I guess one can only enjoy popularity for so long until someone much cooler comes along. In this case, my kids are much cooler than me!