Monday, May 2, 2011

stuff i take for granted

When we arrived back yesterday, Adam's son Liam (who's 5?) was so excited to see his dad come home. I watched his face light up as he saw him and ran to him. I never want to forget how awesome it is to have a family that genuinely loves to see me. As the kids get older though, these kind of moments get farther between so I thought I'd better write some of this down.

Many dads only get to see their kids for an hour or so after they come home from work and before they go to bed. I'm lucky to get to get them ready in the morning as well.

There are definitely limitations to being a girl with a dad at home in the morning. I usually forget to ask her to brush her hair. She never has pigtails or cool braids. My wife rolls her eyes at the clothing choices that sometimes she makes and I allow her to wear to school. I wish I could be a better dad to her. She doesn't like hockey or sports that much. We like to do different things. She's as stereotypical feminine as it gets. And, (to the two of us that might actually read this), we both know I'm as masculine as it comes. But I have such a special place in my heart for this girl. What I hope I have taught her is to be proud of who she is - with or without pigtails and matching clothes. Be proud to express who you are - because we're sure proud parents.

Jordan on the other hand, doesn't really care for cartoons in the morning like Rachel does. He's really just waiting for school. He's dressed while Rachel will still be in PJs. He eats buttered toast (6 quarters of bread) or waffles while Rachel eats whatever she can get away with. Jordan watches sports highlights just as he did 12 hours earlier while getting ready for bed. I couldn't imagine having to wait 12 hours to see the outcome of a game. He's always got his hockey stick in his hands - even in the morning. When I was 9, I was riding my bike over homemade ramps with hockey cards in the spokes, playing atari and flicking hockey cards. Point being - I remember it well and have great memories of those days. I hope Jordan has great memories of these days with his dad.

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