The Crazy Uncle

My husband and I are both the oldest child in our families.  Therefore, we knew we would not become an Aunt or an Uncle for at least a few years after we had children.  At least we hoped our siblings would wait that long (Thankfully they have).

I will be honest... my brother-in-law loves adventure.  He enjoys mountain climbing (I mean the vertical kind with special gear so you don't fall to your death), cross country skiing (the kind where no one else has gone where you are and there may be an avalanche), biking, and is now into running marathons (he's set to compete in the Boston marathon this spring).

Based on those things, I always figured he would be seen as the "crazy uncle."  Every family has one.  You know... the family member who everyone thinks is different from the rest of the family.  The rebel.  Well, now that my brother-in-law has a child he has calmed down a bit.  That has allowed my brother to take over the position of "the crazy uncle."

How crazy you ask?  The other day, my brother visited for a while and he ended up jumping into our pool with the kids (the pool was 68 degrees)!  Even my son didn't go in voluntarily and my daughter would jump in and immediately climb out and wrap up in a towel (Note: I was sane and was sitting in a chair taking pictures).

Having a water fight with the kids

My brother also showed my son a bit about his new job / obsession in life.  In December, my brother became a certified rigger.  That means, my brother can pack and repair just about any parachute out there.  Right now he packs parachutes at different "Drop Zones" (businesses whose goal is to have people pay them to take them up in a plane so they can jump from them and plummet to the ground, only to use the parachute that my brother just packed for them).  He's doing this so that he can make enough money to become certified to jump out of planes by himself.  He's about half way to that certification too.

Showing how he has to check the inside of the parachute cells too.

Letting my son pack the pilot chute.

As crazy as this sounds to me, and perhaps to some of you, I can honestly say I have never seen my brother so happy in his life.  It could be that he's in Florida in 80 degree weather and parts of Virginia got snow over the weekend, but I think it's that he's found what he really enjoys and has found a way to make money doing it.

That's a kind of crazy I think every kid should see.  I hope my kids can find something they enjoy as much "when they grow up."