Monkey hugs. Monkey hugs. Monkey hugs. There are few things more special and meaningful to me than monkey hugs from the boy. Monkey hug time is one of those times where you just know he loves me. Sometimes he’ll give you that, ‘I love you Daddy’ look, and times where he’ll tell you with his words. But being able to feel how much he loves me…is priceless. I know I won’t get them forever; however I’ll take them for as long as they’re given.
September 20, 2010
September 13, 2010
It's All About You
It has been a tough few weeks back to school. For some reason, this year I just cannot get into the groove of things. The past few weeks have truly been the worst weeks of my teaching career. There is not one thing I can pinpoint, they all just run together. I have been trying to convince myself that education is where I am supposed to be, but it’s been tough.
Today, I went to get the boy and it was much later than usual. I was stuck in traffic and the time was passing by so fast. Every minute in traffic was one less minute with him. When I arrived at his babysitter’s house, I saw him run to the window and I could hear him screaming, “DADDY, DADDY!” I could not open the door fast enough! I opened the door and he tackled me so hard I almost fell over. He gave me the biggest, monkey hug I have gotten in a long time. He said, “My daddy, my daddy!” That moment in time made the last three weeks of hell COMPLETELY worth it. That moment in time reminded me of the reason why I do what I do. I do what I do not only for the kids in my classroom, but for the most important kid in my life. It’s not much to the average person. It was everything to me. Here’s to you Georgie…it’s all about you!
Today, I went to get the boy and it was much later than usual. I was stuck in traffic and the time was passing by so fast. Every minute in traffic was one less minute with him. When I arrived at his babysitter’s house, I saw him run to the window and I could hear him screaming, “DADDY, DADDY!” I could not open the door fast enough! I opened the door and he tackled me so hard I almost fell over. He gave me the biggest, monkey hug I have gotten in a long time. He said, “My daddy, my daddy!” That moment in time made the last three weeks of hell COMPLETELY worth it. That moment in time reminded me of the reason why I do what I do. I do what I do not only for the kids in my classroom, but for the most important kid in my life. It’s not much to the average person. It was everything to me. Here’s to you Georgie…it’s all about you!
August 29, 2010
Sweet Dreams Bubbas...
It was another great weekend with our little man. Our first trip to the Magic House was a success. It’s nice to let him run and explore things he’s never encountered before. To see the learning taking place is simply phenomenal. He is such a character and mostly everything he does is done with so much charisma and personality.
His vocabulary seems to grow more and more as the days go by. Tonight after dinner, he put on his, “Pack-Pack” (back pack) and said he was going to get on the bus to go to school. WOW! All I could say was, “Buddy, mommy and daddy are not ready for you to get on the bus and go to school.” We know that if the speed of time from the past is any indicator of the future, time for him to go to school is just around the corner. Makes me sick to my stomach to think he’ll ever be old enough for school.
He’s starting to use the procrastination button more frequently when it’s time for his nap or bedtime. There is always something that he needs before he’ll lay down. Although he wears me out, I am reminded how awesome he is and how very lucky I am to be his daddy. Sweet dreams Bubbas…
His vocabulary seems to grow more and more as the days go by. Tonight after dinner, he put on his, “Pack-Pack” (back pack) and said he was going to get on the bus to go to school. WOW! All I could say was, “Buddy, mommy and daddy are not ready for you to get on the bus and go to school.” We know that if the speed of time from the past is any indicator of the future, time for him to go to school is just around the corner. Makes me sick to my stomach to think he’ll ever be old enough for school.
He’s starting to use the procrastination button more frequently when it’s time for his nap or bedtime. There is always something that he needs before he’ll lay down. Although he wears me out, I am reminded how awesome he is and how very lucky I am to be his daddy. Sweet dreams Bubbas…
August 10, 2010
Wok Daddy, Wok
Georgie has run a high fever for the past two days now, off and on. Tonight, his mommy left for on a business trip for the next few days, so it’s just the boys at home. This boy has a way with getting me to do whatever he wants.
We went to a local department store where he wanted EVERYTHING we passed by. That is not typical of him, but since he has not felt well….well daddy lets him put it in the cart. As he grabs an item, some of the others mysteriously disappear and end up back on the shelf; of course in a location they do not belong. Before we head to the checkout, the boy and I have to have a conversation about all the random items in the cart, (aluminum foil, lotion, a water float, cereal bars, and (3) four-car sets of Hot Wheels). I managed to talk him into putting everything back with the exception of one set of Hot Wheels. He sits politely in the cart as we make it to the checkout and even hands the cashier his cars for her to scan and was willing to wait until we got in the car for them to be opened. His personality amazes me.
But, the part that gets me the most was bedtime. We have a routine each night where we ask him, “Georgie, would you like to brush your teeth and go to bed now, or in five minutes?” (Gotta love Love & Logic!) He used to just say, “Yes”, responding to the last words mentioned. Now, he’ll say, “Five min”. We always ask the question with plenty of time for him to have an extra five minutes or even 20, (it just depends on how much fun we’re having). At the end of five minutes we tell him that it’s time to go brush teeth and to go to bed. He says, “Five min!” We tell him no and remind him that he made the choice earlier for five more minutes and that time is up. His response…”Okay”. And, we proceed through the routine of brushing teeth, getting pajamas on, reading a book, exchanging hugs and kisses and doing the rocket ship, (he squats down in front of me, counts down 3, 2, 1 and I shoot him up into the air, spin him around like a rocket ship and he lands in his bed. I cover him up, tell him I love him, (which he responds with his, “I love you too dad” although the words are hard to make out…I KNOW WHAT HE IS SAYING! ) we say night, night, the light goes off and the door closes.
Tonight the routine was no different with the exception of taking a bath first. However, after being in bed for about five minutes I hear what is believed to be the whimpering of a puppy looking for his mommy, (or daddy in this case). I go into his room and he says, “Wok daddy, wok”, (rock daddy, rock). I quietly ask myself, “Self? Is he REALLY asking you to rock him?” Now, to put things into perspective, he has not allowed me to rock him for I would say 9 months…and when he does want to be rocked, he reserves that privilege for his mommy. I must say my heart melted a little. Of course I picked him up and began to rock him…how could I not? As I began to rock him, I ask if it would be okay for me to sing a song to him….and guess what? HE SAID YES! Now, to put this into perspective as well, for the past 9 months when we would try to sing him a song, he would put his index finger over one nostril, push it closed and go, “SHHHH!” Not sure where he learned that from…but that’s what we got.
I sang him the entire song I wrote for him when he was just a few months old, one I sang to him every night for the first year and more of his life. The song is called, Oh My Bubbas (to the tune of Oh My Darling). I won’t share the words as I don’t want it to jinks me. I’m hoping I have another opportunity to sing it to him before he brings his first girlfriend home to meet his parents!
He lay in my arms, where he ended up falling asleep, which he has not done for a VERY long time. This experience allowed me to reflect on how he has changed so much in a short amount of time. It reminded me of the important role I play in his life as his daddy. Of course he needs his mommy, we all do. But, I know he needs his daddy.
We went to a local department store where he wanted EVERYTHING we passed by. That is not typical of him, but since he has not felt well….well daddy lets him put it in the cart. As he grabs an item, some of the others mysteriously disappear and end up back on the shelf; of course in a location they do not belong. Before we head to the checkout, the boy and I have to have a conversation about all the random items in the cart, (aluminum foil, lotion, a water float, cereal bars, and (3) four-car sets of Hot Wheels). I managed to talk him into putting everything back with the exception of one set of Hot Wheels. He sits politely in the cart as we make it to the checkout and even hands the cashier his cars for her to scan and was willing to wait until we got in the car for them to be opened. His personality amazes me.
But, the part that gets me the most was bedtime. We have a routine each night where we ask him, “Georgie, would you like to brush your teeth and go to bed now, or in five minutes?” (Gotta love Love & Logic!) He used to just say, “Yes”, responding to the last words mentioned. Now, he’ll say, “Five min”. We always ask the question with plenty of time for him to have an extra five minutes or even 20, (it just depends on how much fun we’re having). At the end of five minutes we tell him that it’s time to go brush teeth and to go to bed. He says, “Five min!” We tell him no and remind him that he made the choice earlier for five more minutes and that time is up. His response…”Okay”. And, we proceed through the routine of brushing teeth, getting pajamas on, reading a book, exchanging hugs and kisses and doing the rocket ship, (he squats down in front of me, counts down 3, 2, 1 and I shoot him up into the air, spin him around like a rocket ship and he lands in his bed. I cover him up, tell him I love him, (which he responds with his, “I love you too dad” although the words are hard to make out…I KNOW WHAT HE IS SAYING! ) we say night, night, the light goes off and the door closes.
Tonight the routine was no different with the exception of taking a bath first. However, after being in bed for about five minutes I hear what is believed to be the whimpering of a puppy looking for his mommy, (or daddy in this case). I go into his room and he says, “Wok daddy, wok”, (rock daddy, rock). I quietly ask myself, “Self? Is he REALLY asking you to rock him?” Now, to put things into perspective, he has not allowed me to rock him for I would say 9 months…and when he does want to be rocked, he reserves that privilege for his mommy. I must say my heart melted a little. Of course I picked him up and began to rock him…how could I not? As I began to rock him, I ask if it would be okay for me to sing a song to him….and guess what? HE SAID YES! Now, to put this into perspective as well, for the past 9 months when we would try to sing him a song, he would put his index finger over one nostril, push it closed and go, “SHHHH!” Not sure where he learned that from…but that’s what we got.
I sang him the entire song I wrote for him when he was just a few months old, one I sang to him every night for the first year and more of his life. The song is called, Oh My Bubbas (to the tune of Oh My Darling). I won’t share the words as I don’t want it to jinks me. I’m hoping I have another opportunity to sing it to him before he brings his first girlfriend home to meet his parents!
He lay in my arms, where he ended up falling asleep, which he has not done for a VERY long time. This experience allowed me to reflect on how he has changed so much in a short amount of time. It reminded me of the important role I play in his life as his daddy. Of course he needs his mommy, we all do. But, I know he needs his daddy.
August 7, 2010
Summer Reflection
Georgie is two and is quite the active little boy. He is going from the time he wakes up requesting a snack, “seal bah”, (cereal bar) until the time he goes to bed, (still requesting a snack…even though dinner had already been served and consumed. He loves cars and trucks, choo-choo trains, and of course Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. He enjoys his fair share of television, (maybe a little more than he should), but most importantly he loves life. His mommy and I have created an environment for him where he feels safe, (except when we play hide and seek and I intentionally scare him…or I pretend to be the monster coming after his belly and he runs to mommy and says he is scared!) We let him explore his surroundings and try to expose him to as many experiences as possible.
Being a teacher I have had the opportunity to spend most of the summer months at home with my son Georgie. As the summer concludes, I head back to school and he heads back to the babysitter, I reflect on our time together this summer. I think about the difficult time during swim lessons when he refused to do anything the instructor or I asked him to do. I think about the moments of angriness he had for me while leaving various playgrounds, as he felt it was not enough playtime. I also think about the wonderful times we had chasing each other around the backyard, taking pictures with his puppy friend Owen at the park, playing at his water table, Citygarden, the zoo, the lake, the pool, and so much more. But most importantly, I think about the times we just hung out together.
It saddens me to know that now I only get a few hours a day with him. I hope he’ll always call me daddy.
Being a teacher I have had the opportunity to spend most of the summer months at home with my son Georgie. As the summer concludes, I head back to school and he heads back to the babysitter, I reflect on our time together this summer. I think about the difficult time during swim lessons when he refused to do anything the instructor or I asked him to do. I think about the moments of angriness he had for me while leaving various playgrounds, as he felt it was not enough playtime. I also think about the wonderful times we had chasing each other around the backyard, taking pictures with his puppy friend Owen at the park, playing at his water table, Citygarden, the zoo, the lake, the pool, and so much more. But most importantly, I think about the times we just hung out together.
It saddens me to know that now I only get a few hours a day with him. I hope he’ll always call me daddy.
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