Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Reflections of a Dad
This post isn't like my usual kid anecdotes. Its more of a mushy, sappy one -so if that's not to your taste you may want to skip it.
Last night Nora and I were out for most of the evening; me with a tennis match and Nora with obedience training for Jose. When we got home we sat and watched TV for a little while with Pierce and Anna. I think Anna was ready for bed, because she was content to watch quietly rather than running around the room and jumping on the furniture. She just sat on my lap and snuggled up against me.
We were watching an educational program, Between the Lions, that focuses on reading/spelling. Every few minutes Pierce would jump up and run over to the front door to re-arrange the magnetic letters into new words. Then he would excitedly announce to Nora and me that we needed to see his new words.
Before we had children I would listen to my friends talk about how much their lives had changed once they had kids; how they didn't have time to go to movies, or go out, or play sports, or do so many of the things they used to enjoy. I always thought that sounded like a huge sacrifice.
Now that we have children too I'm coming to realize that its not about sacrifice at all. Its about priorities. While all those "adult" activities are fun (and we still try and do them when we can), the time I'm able to spend with Pierce and Anna is priceless. Its hard to imagine how incredible the time is just "hanging out with the family" until they're YOUR kids. Then it starts to make a lot of sense.
-Eric (Dad)
Last night Nora and I were out for most of the evening; me with a tennis match and Nora with obedience training for Jose. When we got home we sat and watched TV for a little while with Pierce and Anna. I think Anna was ready for bed, because she was content to watch quietly rather than running around the room and jumping on the furniture. She just sat on my lap and snuggled up against me.
We were watching an educational program, Between the Lions, that focuses on reading/spelling. Every few minutes Pierce would jump up and run over to the front door to re-arrange the magnetic letters into new words. Then he would excitedly announce to Nora and me that we needed to see his new words.
Before we had children I would listen to my friends talk about how much their lives had changed once they had kids; how they didn't have time to go to movies, or go out, or play sports, or do so many of the things they used to enjoy. I always thought that sounded like a huge sacrifice.
Now that we have children too I'm coming to realize that its not about sacrifice at all. Its about priorities. While all those "adult" activities are fun (and we still try and do them when we can), the time I'm able to spend with Pierce and Anna is priceless. Its hard to imagine how incredible the time is just "hanging out with the family" until they're YOUR kids. Then it starts to make a lot of sense.
-Eric (Dad)
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