For some reason, Emerson loves the story of how we initially thought out firstborn was going to be a boy and wound up being (surprise, surprise) a girl. Her.
I don’t know why she likes this story but she asks me to tell it at least once a month. Maybe I’m a better storyteller than I thought? Maybe my motions are funny to her? Maybe she likes showing me that I was WRONG and being a girl-Dad has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
I am very, VERY behind on this.
Love these two…so so so very much!
A family’s home is important to them. Maybe not to others in the world but to the people that live in the house, it’s almost everything. A place of memories, of gatherings, of safety; of love; of tears.
Ever since becoming a Dad, I made a promise. If my kids want to go to church, we will go.
This past Sunday, we were doing our normal weekend morning routine: kids destroying the house and me trying to get the sleep out of my eyes. It had been a busy week and the Titans were playing at noon and I was thinking about just having a chill morning (no church)
All of the sudden, E said “I want to go to church today”. I hope I didn’t grunt and the first thing I said was “okay”. So we were off to the races. I hadn’t planned on making them food so quickly or getting them both dressed (Lincoln wanted to come too). I had to figure out if we would allow them back into Gateway Kids for the first time since COVID started. Would one go? Would both go? So many decisions to make.
Of course, we got ready in record time and headed out the door.
I remembered something my Mom did as a kid that was such a small act but it was so consistent that it created a memory that has lasted. We went to church most Sundays growing up. Church was BORING. 1 service and there was no end time – it just ended when it ended. My Mom would always give my sister and me change or money to put in the collection plate. I had no idea what the money was for. I think I wanted the money so I could go buy a new toy or some baseball cards. I don’t think even in all the time I went to that church (even into high school) that I thought about what collections actually were. I knew what tithes were but I didn’t know that a church is kinda a business too (well, they DO have bills to pay).
Anyway, back to church. We are sitting in the old main sanctuary and watching service on a big screen. Just not ready to mingle with the main crowd – plus with both kids there, there was going to be some running around and screen time needed.
At the end of service, I gave them each a few coins to put into the collection plate. It was so busy after service that I didn’t get to explain to them the action and the way. But I will..
And hopefully, it’ll be a memory they will carry with them into their 40’s.
“Swimming contest” = what he calls his two week long summer swimming class
“Buckle seat” = when he wants his car seat buckled.
”Diving bell” = diving board
“Walking side” = sidewalk (my current favorite)
It’s time for a job change…while updating my resume, there’s obviously a ton of focus on what I have done at previous companies. I wanted to focus (and catalog) some of the people and things that those jobs gave or taught me.
My son says this with such ferocity that you HAVE to look. And he will keep saying it until you look. I will miss this when he gets older…just a little.
Mom, I apologize for my entire childhood and me and Keshia constantly competing for your attention <3
Do you ever pick up something that your kid does that you maybe should have noticed but never did? Nothing big but just a small thing that makes a lot of other things make sense?
We had Krispy Kreme this week to “celebrate” (or mourn) the end of summer. My son had to get a fork to eat his donut. He’s eaten it by hands before. I’m sure of it. But today, he HAD to have a fork. Like he wouldn’t eat it without it.
I don’t consider him a neat freak. If you saw his room, you’d know the opposite is 100% true. He plays in the sand and in the yard all the time. He eats pizza and chicken nuggets by hand (like a good ole American boy). But with his food, he does not like to be STICKY. He ate one in the car yesterday on the way home but that may have been just from sheer hunger and boredom. And he whined about his hands being dirty the whole drive home when he was done. But at home, where he KNEW he had stuff to prevent stickiness…yep.
So I’ll be keeping some wipes on hand in my car from now on.
One thing I have very little doubt about is my parenting. I am the right Dad for these kids and they are the right children for me to raise. (some days and moments are obviously harder than others – make no mistake about that).
There is one day in particular that has stuck in my head for years. It’s come up a few times since as we have been the recipient of other people’s decisions. It is in super focus now as we are about to begin a school year (hopefully) with a pandemic going on.
I have forgotten a few of the finer details but it all boils down to – one day when E was about 3 years old, she had a fever. I forget if it was a small one the night before or just popped up the morning of but it went between a 99 and 101. (100 is the “stay away” temp for daycare attendance). Becky and I sent her to school in the morning and hoped she would make it through the day.
She did NOT. I think we got a call to get her before lunch and we had to pick her up and take her home for the day.
So in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, right? Irresponsible of us…yes. I’ll admit it. What’s funny is that whatever work we thought was SO important and needed to get done that day…didn’t get done when we got the call that we had to pick her up. We could have gotten a teacher or another student sick with what she had and possibly effected their family. And we know our kid…she has never been a “get a quick fever and recover girl”. She is of the multi-day type. Bad call on our part. And if I remember correctly – it wasn’t like I had a big deadline that day or Becky was in show dress rehearsals or something. And we both had enough PTO in our bank to blow a day.
All that to say…man, what parenting shows you about the importance of work and everything else. I promise not to send my kid to school this upcoming school year with anything resembling a cold or even a behavior out of the ordinary. This year…one rash decision could be devastating.
