Go Ask Dad: Dads at a trampoline park

On a rainy Saturday morning, you will find dads of all shapes and sizes who have hauled their children to the indoor trampoline park. Though each person is unique, I sort my fellow fathers into three basic categories.

Bro Dad

This guy wears a sleeveless workout shirt to show off his biceps — guns out, Bro! He owns his own specialty gripper socks for maximum leaping ability. On the backyard trampoline, his kid taught him how to do a backflip. This Saturday at the park, Bro Dad lands the trick and checks to see who all is watching him. Where is his kid? He has no idea.

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Rover Dad

Like man’s best friend, Rover Dad’s job is to fetch. But instead of sticks or balls, he doggedly pursues his little kids over and around all the trampolines, picking them up after each face plant and snagging them moments before they launch themselves off a high jump. Rover Dad sacrifices his own body to shield his toddler from the tween leaping while texting. Just 10 minutes into the morning and Rover Dad is already exhausted. He’s worked up more of a sweat than Bro Dad! That afternoon, his kid is going to have to put him down for a nap.

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Go-with-the-Flow Dad

This dad does not jump on trampolines. He’s wearing Birkenstocks. He has smuggled Starbucks into the park and inconspicuously sits in a chair in a corner. Maybe he checks his phone for last night’s NBA highlights (too bad Lebron couldn’t win one more). He bobs his head to the pop music playing over the loudspeakers. Mostly, he watches the action on the trampolines. His own kids amuse him as they play dodgeball; his youngest can hold her own with her brothers! Though they are not paying attention to him, Go-with-the-Flow Dad smiles at the other fathers. In the past, he has been both a Bro and a Rover. But now he’s older and so are his kids. No need to chase toddlers or seek anyone’s attention. Sure, the previous week had some stress at work and home. But on this rainy Saturday at the trampoline park, my coffee is good and so is life.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of Gently Between the Words: Essays and Poems. He is the pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, also an ordained minister, parent three children and a dog named Ramona.