I was writing to some daddy bloggers today and I wrote this line in an email to one of them.
[...] Not just bystanders in the family, that make some money (hopefully), but fully engaged men, being men for their kids.
I liked it and just wanted to save it/write it on the blog for posterity.
By Clint Perry
Everyone climbs on me. I’m always saying, I’m not a Jungle Gym. Recently it turned into a short story. Now my kids are always yelling J. Uncle Jim! J. Uncle Jim!
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Hi! I’m J. Uncle Jim.
I’m about 6 feet and 6 inches tall, which tends to be quite tall. For some reason that seems to always make me be an exciting play structure for my three rambunctious nephews.
I don’t see them very often but when I do they do nothing but climb all over me and decorate me with various things from around the house.
One day I laid down on the floor and they dog piled all over me. I was able to reach around all three of them and give them a great big bear hug all at once. They screamed, laughed and giggled in delight.
When I let go they rolled off of me in all directions yelling, “J. Uncle Jim! J. Uncle Jim!”
When I saw them at Christmas time, they wrapped me up in lights and tinsel and hung ornaments on my nose and ears and put a star on my head.
I shook and wiggled and tried to chase them around as a living Christmas tree but the chords for the light leashed me to the wall.
When the ornament fell off my nose and rolled down the hall they all laughed hysterically and yelled, “J. Uncle Jim! J. Uncle Jim!”
One of their favorite things to do is hang from each arm as I lift them straight out and into the air. I’ll move my arms up and down as they scream, “whoaaa, whooaaa” while chuckling.
Sometimes I lift them really high and stop. They try and try to hold on and I try and try to keep my arms up. We play a game to see who will drop first. Usually I win and as they hit the floor they laugh and laugh and yell, “J. Uncle Jim! J. Uncle Jim!”
Airplane spins, piggy back rides, wall climbs up my legs and chest, standing on my shoulders, tackling me to the floor. You name they do it. I guess it’s fun and I don’t mind. I like being J. Uncle Jim! J. Uncle Jim!
I’ve been working on a song about “cleaning up your mess” and tonight it somehow evolved into writing, in like 5 minutes, a song about Disneyland focusing on the rollercoasters. It’s so weird to me how that happens. It’s almost like while working on something else you are really digging in the soil of creativity to unearth the song, painting, poem or story that you were supposed be creating but you just don’t know it until it happens. The 5 minute thing trips me out too. It’s like the words are waiting there to be grabbed and all you have to do is get to that point where you play the right chord or riff, or mix the right color, or come up with the right rhyme and it magically goes “Whalla!” and you figuratively vomit out the creation in a matter of seconds or minutes, where some pieces of work are a ridiculous struggle. It’s cool and if you think about it somewhat mesmerizing. Regardless, creating is so rewarding. Whatever skill you think you have or don’t have, use it! Make something. That only leads to more creativity. It’s like anything. You’ve got to practice it to get better at it.
One of my boys drew this picture this morning and it immediately inspired the following story/poem.
There once was a boy who had antennae in his head.
It made it very hard to lay down in his bed.
He would turn on his side or with his pillow he’d sit
But his antennae just made him want to throw a big fit.
So he’d lay on his back and he learned to sleep still,
But it never was easy and it took all his will.
There were other things that were hard to achieve,
Like wearing a hat or getting his arm in his sleeve.
He had to be careful of low hanging trees
And His antennae would attract lots of birds and some bees.
He always felt different out of place or alone
And when school was all done he’d head straight for his home.
He knew other people would look or would stare
And it bothered him even if he didn’t want to care.
There were times he’d get mad and he’d try to remove
But an impossible mission it would ultimately prove.
They were stronger than steel and secured deep in place,
coming out of his hair on the top of his face.
As he grew from a boy to a young teenage man
He made some good friends who helped him understand
That everyone one was different and his different was new.
And his antennae were obvious, this much was true.
But his gift came in handy like the time they were lost
In the woods. It was freezing and starting to frost
It wasn’t very long until they were found
Cause the antennae were tracked with a low beeping sound.
Or every time something falls in a crevice or crack,
The antennae make it easy to get it all back.
He eventually came to love what he had
And accepted the good along with the bad.
He stopped trying to hide what was unique about him
And took up the chance to competitive swim.
The antennae gave him the advantage at the pool or the beach
Coming in first with the extra inches in reach.
He eventually set records in time and in wins.
People forgot his antennae and swore he had fins.
His antennae were different and certainly new
And like him you and I have differences too.
Maybe red hair and freckles or lips that are blue
Perhaps a tooth in the front that is slightly askew.
Maybe hair that’s so curly or really big shoes
or you snore really loud every time that you snooze.
See, your life is a color with it’s own special hue.
so love what you’ve got cause it’s what makes you, be YOU!
I was sitting around thinking tonight that on the eve of my 38th Birthday that I really don’t need any gifts, because the greatest ones have already been given to me. What else could even come close?
My oldest son, Sean, made this picture for me today, on Father’s Day. I like it.
It seems like we can take quite a bit from a bees life in the hive and correlate it to our life at home. There is more to “bee-ing” a family than just living in the same house. In fact many families don’t seem to live in the same house anymore, which is a shame.
Anyway, we’re all working toward a common goal and if we lose site of that the home doesn’t function like it should. We all look after each other. If one get’s hurt the others come to the aid. We create an end product that is incredibly sweet. We take things from our travels throughout the day and bring them home and learn from them, discuss them and use them to make our home a better place.
I am a very happy Father today. It’s been a nice Father’s Day…..Oh, I forgot we also all serve the Queen. 
I just sent this letter and a disc to Tina Fey. It’s just too funny the correlation to my life and her recent episodes of 30 Rock. I hope she get’s the letter.
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Dear Tina :
Are you keeping tabs Clint Perry & The Boo Hoo Crew?? Geez, I hope you are a fan like you in our corner would be great!
I was writing because I am just finding the current episodes of 30 Rock way to familiar. It’s hilarious and no this is not a “hey you’re copying us, stop it!” letter. It’s just a funny fan letter from a dude that wanted you know how funny it is to watch 3 episodes of 30 Rock and each one of them says or highlights something that is a huge part of my life now: the aforementioned band Clint Perry & The Boo Hoo Crew.
In one episode, where you are taking tips from Jack’s video about how to negotiate. He get’s disappointed in your character and says, “c’mon Lemon I’m just doing the sorcerer’s apprentice. You respond with the Pirate Holiday…” I jumped out of my seat it was so funny. I even recorded it with my phone and posted it on ourFacebook page. This to me is the most bizarre occurrence because when do you ever hear that term? If you check out our website at http://www.boohoocrew.com then look at music. You’ll see the demo version for “Pirate Holiday.” This is an original song written by me in November of 2011 for Holiday shows in theSan Diego area. The coincidence, to me, was uncanny.
Then in another episode Jenna says, “….now that Kids is such a hit…: That’s the name of song 8 on our album Jelly & Peanut Butter. It’s a bit of a stretch but when put back to back to back with last weeks episode it’s so interesting.
Then on last weeks episode you had a kids band on the show: The Woggles. By the way the end song was hilarious. My wife said, “You know she’s calling Kid’s bands creepy right?” I don’t care it was great.
I just had to write, send you a CD for your kids and hope to hear back from you. I am sure you have no idea who we are and it was all weird cosmic coincidence….but, hopefully, you do now.
Thank you for all your great writing over the years.
Sincerely,
Clint Perry
Performances
