It’s Saturday afternoon and your toddler is cranky. It’s a cool and partly cloudy fall day so you take her outside as a distraction. You get out the wagon, set the little angel in it and start pulling. You look back and she is smiling, singing, and picking up the old leaves and sticks still in the wagon from the previous journey. “Well”, you surmise, “I guess she just needed some fresh air and a change of scenery”.
You start thinking about the bills you need to pay and the leak under the sink that is currently dripping in a bucket. Speaking of leaves, the gutter is choking with them and that big yard you wanted when you bought the house is now ankle deep in that symbol of the Toronto Hockey Club. And then there is that presentation at work coming up that needs your attention. Your wife is out shopping with your daughter’s slightly older brother who, before they left, was driving you crazy with his bouncing around the house and tackling of your wagon-passenger, much to her animal-like screeching chagrin.
As you notice your breathing getting a little heavier as you get half way up the neighborhood hill on Mt. Everest Drive, it strikes you that you aren’t getting anything done! Your wife expects to see nothing of you but your legs sticking out from underneath the sink when she gets home. That leak is her number one priority while your priority is that presentation. Your neighbors don’t say anything, but they are tired of looking at your brown carpet of damp leaves. And here you are, approaching the summit of Mt. Everest, huffing and puffing with your eighteen-month-old smiling up at you when you look back to see if she is still aboard. Oh yeah, better buckle her in.
You start thinking about the bills you need to pay and the leak under the sink that is currently dripping in a bucket. Speaking of leaves, the gutter is choking with them and that big yard you wanted when you bought the house is now ankle deep in that symbol of the Toronto Hockey Club. And then there is that presentation at work coming up that needs your attention. Your wife is out shopping with your daughter’s slightly older brother who, before they left, was driving you crazy with his bouncing around the house and tackling of your wagon-passenger, much to her animal-like screeching chagrin.
As you notice your breathing getting a little heavier as you get half way up the neighborhood hill on Mt. Everest Drive, it strikes you that you aren’t getting anything done! Your wife expects to see nothing of you but your legs sticking out from underneath the sink when she gets home. That leak is her number one priority while your priority is that presentation. Your neighbors don’t say anything, but they are tired of looking at your brown carpet of damp leaves. And here you are, approaching the summit of Mt. Everest, huffing and puffing with your eighteen-month-old smiling up at you when you look back to see if she is still aboard. Oh yeah, better buckle her in.
Mt. Everest Drive “Nothing is getting done!” a voice keeps yelling in your brain as you reach the crest of Mt. Everest Dr. where it meets Priority Court. The house on this corner is the jewel of the neighborhood. The yard is immaculately clear of leaves with trimmed bushes and not a hint of peeling paint. Also, not a toy in sight. As you get back your breath you say to yourself, “I bet… (pant pant) … they don’t have…kids”.
You start the trip back downhill to your house and the wagon is easier to pull. In fact, you have to keep it from being a thrill ride by holding it back from the gravitational force. Your toddler is banging a stick on the side of the wagon, but still happy. You start thinking about how she blows you kisses when you leave for work and how she giggles when you blow raspberries on her belly. And yesterday, she had a grip on your leg like she never wanted to let go.
You get home just as your wife and son return. After you lift your daughter out of the wagon your son, who is approaching four years of age, hugs his sister and comes running to tell you mommy bought a treat for after dinner, and would you play cars with him. You begrudgingly say, “yes, but you have to help me take groceries in the house first”. Your son grabs a container of yogurt which he personally picked out because of the strawberry on the label. He drops it twice on the way into the house but he feels proud of his effort to help.
On the way in the house, you notice the garage has no room for your car. Then you think it could all be perfect…clean gutters, immaculate yard, free time for watching baseball, and extra money for a plumber. But you would have to give up these two young ones to have all that...and then you realize just how lucky you really are! That is, until you walk in the house with your last bag of groceries and your wife complains, “You’ll do anything to avoid fixing that leak!”
Hey, this is real life…not a fairy tale! But you really did get a lot done today…as a Dad!
You start the trip back downhill to your house and the wagon is easier to pull. In fact, you have to keep it from being a thrill ride by holding it back from the gravitational force. Your toddler is banging a stick on the side of the wagon, but still happy. You start thinking about how she blows you kisses when you leave for work and how she giggles when you blow raspberries on her belly. And yesterday, she had a grip on your leg like she never wanted to let go.
You get home just as your wife and son return. After you lift your daughter out of the wagon your son, who is approaching four years of age, hugs his sister and comes running to tell you mommy bought a treat for after dinner, and would you play cars with him. You begrudgingly say, “yes, but you have to help me take groceries in the house first”. Your son grabs a container of yogurt which he personally picked out because of the strawberry on the label. He drops it twice on the way into the house but he feels proud of his effort to help.
On the way in the house, you notice the garage has no room for your car. Then you think it could all be perfect…clean gutters, immaculate yard, free time for watching baseball, and extra money for a plumber. But you would have to give up these two young ones to have all that...and then you realize just how lucky you really are! That is, until you walk in the house with your last bag of groceries and your wife complains, “You’ll do anything to avoid fixing that leak!”
Hey, this is real life…not a fairy tale! But you really did get a lot done today…as a Dad!
