I'm no different. I can't' wait for Charlie to grow and for the chance to take him on his first camping trip, help him explore his world, and to discover his calling. I want to teach him solid values and give him a good foundation. To that end I am going to enlist the help of Haugen's Army.
What is Haugen's Army? Essentially it was an exercise in creativity and a way for me and my friends to battle classroom boredom during high school and college. It would work like this. We would have five minutes to sketch out whatever motley character we could dream up. We did this for a number of years and the efforts yielded such timeless classics as "Showcase Showdown", "Mustard's Last Stand", "Superlative Givens"and "Willie the Little Headed Archer". One of those characters was named "Chain-mail Charles and his Lofty Ideals."
I am going to see if I can convert him into a character that serve as a basis for a short story. The story will allow me to teach Charles the timeless qualities of imagination, exploration, and determination. We'll see if I can harness those virtues in seeing this project to the end.
