Hank and I wanted to make something that reminded us of both. Our hope is that it does the same for you too. The designs are meant to evoke joy and confidence - a piece of your outfit that you look forward to putting on each day. We both realize that the phrase “life is good” (on this side of eternity anyways) is just a platitude that blows away the minute your truck breaks down or your baby starts screaming. We were both diagnosed with OCD and depression right around the same time. How does one deal with that? For us, it certainly wasn’t pretending that everything is always good. Life is hard but isn’t it worth embracing that hardness? So, we came up with HAP. “Hank and Pete” & an acronym for happy. Even during our worst days there was always something about putting a trucker hat on that brought a smile to our face. It is our greatest desire that the same will be said for you.Father pieceBut our hope doesn’t end there. There are millions of hats in the cyberspace world. Millions more clothing companies. We realized early on that we didn’t want hap to be a set-it-and-forget-it print on demand hat that you find in an Etsy store (not that there is anything wrong with that!): we wanted to create a movement of more present dads. Something to serve as a reminder that the most important thing we can give our children is also the most finite: our time. Let us not think for a moment that this is easy to do. Our undivided attention is often least given to the most precious thing to us as dads: our children (speaking for myself and hank). There’s a game to watch, a new story to read, an email to respond to, a blah blah blah blah blahbibty blah blah. (Insert stat here of time a dad spends with kids).When I think about all of the ways I feel like a failure as a dad (more often than not) it almost always comes back to this one thing: I chose me over them. The insidiousness of self is always right there when things get slightly challenging with the kids. Impatience rises. Irritability goes up. Avoidance becomes easier and half-hearted time together. And the cold reality is that they notice. They notice when we don’t notice them. And this is what makes me feel like the worst Dad on those days when I’m having a bad day. If we as Dads can think of our time as a gift then perhaps this illustration may be helpful. When you give your son or daughter a gift - one that you picked out and thought through, not mom - you watch them intently. You observe how their eyes light up. You see the excitement all over their face. You notice how their brain goes faster than their fingers as they can barely open up the present. You are fully engaged. Fully present and aware and cognizant of every moment. In the limited time we have with our kids, shouldn’t it be the same way? If on avg. a dad spends x % time (insert stat), shouldn’t that be the most intentional time we spend all day? We think so. We hope you do too. I say all this knowing it could hurt some of you. It triggers me too. However, perfection is not the goal - we’ve been flawed since the fall - but it doesn’t mean we can’t try with a little more intention each day. And it is with that in mind that we hope goes into your mind when you wear a hap hat. Acknowledge the imperfections. Embrace the tough stuff. Put on a piece of joy and go have fun. Fully present. Fully aware. Fully Dad.Hank and Pete
