I loved Jimmy Buffett.

When he passed away after a battle with skin cancer, I found myself thinking about something I had never thought much about before: the backs of my legs. Apparently, that's where his cancer started. So, if nothing else, here's your summer reminder—put sunscreen on the backs of your legs.

Now let's talk about the real challenge.

Getting sunscreen on your kids.

What kind do you buy? Is the expensive stuff actually better? How do you keep the spray from blowing into everyone's face when it's windy? And why do my kids seem to have more energy for fighting sunscreen than they do for literally anything else?

I've already told my neighbors that if they hear screaming from our backyard, please make sure it's not sunscreen application before calling the cops.

The truth is, this is one of those parenting battles worth fighting. Right alongside saying "thank you," buckling a seatbelt, wearing a bike helmet, eating a vegetable once in a while, and learning to help someone who needs it.

Our kids don't understand why yet.

That's our job.

A couple of tricks that have actually helped:

Parenting is saying the same thing hundreds of times until one day they say it to their own kids.

So keep fighting the sunscreen fight. Keep fighting for healthy food, helmets, kindness, and everything else they roll their eyes at today.

You're exactly the dad for the job.

Happy Summer, my friend.

Try not to talk about how much zucchini is in these and if they ask say, “not much.”

Ingredients

Mix everything together, scoop onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 12–15 minutes until lightly golden. They're soft, naturally sweet, and make a great grab-and-go snack after a day outside.

Since it is summer time it is your job to get your butt into a tube. It doesn’t have to be pulled behind a boat, it can go nowhere but make it happen. Find a river you can float down or a lake to lounge in and do your best relaxation inpersonation.

If you can wake up at 5am and hit the gym good for you. But if you haven’t gotten there yet the driveway workout is what you need to do. This is also the type of workout you can do with your kids. The driveway workout is the stew of workouts bringing whatever you have in terms of equipment and mats to the driveway and construct some stations. If you do have your little friends with you this is where you explain the sit ups, push ups, squats, and jumps that they will be doing at each spot. Set a countdown timer on your phone and play your old Pearl Jam album, I live LIVE. They will ask you to workout again soon.

This newsletter is not professional in nature but intended to be real things to try. They won’t all work but this is a process and I’d love for you to join me on the way. Thanks for reading and we hope to see you next week.

Send me a note or your best dad joke @ [email protected]