3 random daddy thoughts...

1. Dishes and Drawing

So the other day, I was tackling what can only be described as a mountain of dishes when I got a tug on my pants and some kind of request being barked at me from down near my knees. Instinctively, I reply, "Daddy's busy. Go play with your toys." After a minute or two I thought, "Am I really blowing my daughter off to do the dishes?" Seriously? Is this what I'd rather be doing? I know the rules. This only lasts so long before she's got actual friends and would rather not have me around. I quickly put down the dishes, dried off my hands and followed into the next room.

So I pulled her a clean sheet of paper and sat silent with her while she drew pictures on the easel her Aunt bought her for Christmas. She was content to let me watch while she drew what appeared to be gigantic swirls and scribbles and lines all in different colors. They looked like just random scribbles, but As I watched I could see she made each line with intent. Just seeing her face while she stood there moving the crayon around, it became apparent that all the lines she drew were deliberate. There's a thought process in there and I'm sitting here watching it develop. In the end, I still didn't know what it was a picture of but that didn't matter. You can say that about half the stuff you see in a MOMA.

I just marvel at how lucky I was that I got to see it?

2. What Happened?!?!?!?!

I love the way she says that; loud and quizzical, arms up in the air palms facing the sky like she lost something, eyebrows raised with a questioning look on her face. It's become one of her universally most used exclamations. Alas, there's a lot she says and does that puts the smiles on our faces. But this is one of my favorites.

3. Letting go

The inevitable result in raising your child, is letting her go and be on her own. I'm starting to see glimpses of it even before age 2. Tiny steps on the road to independence, that seem hard on the parents, not so hard for the child. Yesterday was her first time insisting on going down the slide sitting up on her own. She's been going down by herself on her tummy for months, but until yesterday it was daddys job to hold her hand if she decided she wanted to sit up.

Your services are no longer required.

They grow so quickly.