#DadLife: The greatest first 5K in a steady rain followed by an epic Night Ranger singalong story ever told

Or at least the best one that happened yesterday and involved my daughter and me

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I was surprised when #TheDangler (my 14-year-old, IYKYK) agreed to run her first 5K on the Fourth of July. And then I thought it might not happen: The forecast all week called for heavy rain. And who wants to run their first 5K in a downpour?

One of the great challenges of parenting is encouraging your kids to do hard things … but not so hard they end up hating that hard thing or (temporarily) you.

One time, when it was just my older daughter and I on assignment in a secluded cabin, a mouse ran across the floor. She wanted to leave, and I resisted. We were deep in the forest, where mice should be expected, miles from any other lodging or cell service that would get us there. I didn’t want to be the kind of dad who leaves the woods because of woodland creatures … or the kind of dad who makes his daughter stay in a cabin with mice.

We left.

Another time, on a tent camping trip with both of them, the temperature dropped severely, and I faced the same dilemma: Did I want to be the dad who made his daughters tough out the cold … or the dad who protected them from it?

We left that time, too.

With those two incidents running through my head, I wrestled with how hard to push #TheDangler if she resisted running in the rain. I love running in the rain. Nobody remembers a 5K with perfect weather — but I also know I’m weird like that. If she was miserable in her first 5K, there might never be a second. On the other hand, if I “let” her back out just because of a little rain, that would set a bad precedent.

As it turns out, I didn’t have to worry.

It was pouring when we got there, and she didn’t say a word about it even though she was soaked and shivering long before we got to to starting line.

Me (on the way there): Let’s plan to stop and walk three times.

#TheDangler (thinks to herself): We need to stop and walk way more than that.

Me (in first minute of race): Let’s run until the 10-minute mark then walk.

#TheDangler (thinks to herself): We need to stop and walk way sooner than that.

... 11 minutes later ...

#TheDangler: What time is it?

Me: I’m not telling you.

#TheDangler: I don’t want to stop. I just want to know.

Me: If we keep this pace, I think we can make it the whole way.

#TheDangler: OK.

She ran the whole thing without stopping, more than tripling her longest previous run.

On the way home, we traded songs with America in the title. She played So American by Olivia Rodrigo, which was quite good. I think I’m secretly becoming a big fan.

I chose You Can Still Rock in America because 1980s.

Another troubling, vexing, perplexing question:

Do I want to be the kind of dad who sings to that epic, timeless, and most Merica of anthems …

Or do I want to air drum?

The answer, of course, is both.