3 Stories

Man, have I been having a good run of days with my oldest boy lately. We've had a bunch of really excellent father-son kind of moments. I know they made much more of an impact on me than on him, but I'm ok with that; that seems to be the way parenting works.

When I picked him from preschool on Friday, it was an absolutely perfect day. Sunny and warm, but not uncomfortable. As a sort of "End Of First Week of Preschool" celebration, we went to the ice cream shop that is right across the parking lot. We sat on the grass, talked about random things and shared a butterscotch ripple cone. I taught him to bite the end off of the cone when you finish all the ice cream and we played Eye Spy. (I also got in trouble for not telling Mama that we were going to be late. What can I say? I got caught up in the moment.)

On the weekend, we flew a kite. I've had this kite for years, but never quite put it together, even though I've thought of it frequently. Sam was finally the impetus I needed to get it done, and we took it over to the park. It was his first time flying a kite, and again, it was a perfect day for it; sunny, warm, and a steady breeze. It was awesome. We got it stuck in a tree (which I had to climb), we took cover under some nearby pines when it started to rain, and Sam got it flying almost all on his own. Total movie moment which I hope I'll never forget.

Finally, as we were driving home Monday, I was pointing out the corn plants that grow in a field on our route. I said that we'd stop some time to take a closer look, and Sam asked, "Can we stop now to take a closer look?" First instinct was to say, No, we're driving home, we'll do it another time. I realized then that there was no real reason not to stop - there was a wide shoulder, and we were a little bit early. Out we got, and over we walked. We saw planes and grasshoppers on the way, and before we headed back to the car, Sam was showing me where the corn grew on the stalks. I still don't have a good explanation for why they're called ears...

I've always known that parenting is a long-term investment; I'm really starting to see the fruits of my labour (so to speak), and I can't wait until I have two boys to really share things with.