The Hardest Part Of Being A Single Dad….
Friday, January 8th, 2010It’s not the cooking, or the laundry, I’ve always been able to handle that. It’s not the trips to the super market, one kid taking a “test bite” out of each apple we have selected while his sister tries to sneak Lucky Charms and anything else Daddy has deemed “junk” into the cart. It’s not going to the aquarium or the zoo, I can always rope my Sister or Mom into helping me with those special trips. It’s not getting both kids bathed and into their jammies, we work together and get it done quite smoothly.
The hardest part is watching it all happen alone, all the special times. I don’t mean sitting 5 or 6 rows away from my ex and her husband at Lucy’s school events, I mean those special moments that happen almost daily as your kids grow and discover. The little things that amaze you or overwhelm you, the things that can only truly be appreciated by your partner, the person who you created these miracles.
When you check on them sleeping and they look so peaceful, snoring those little snores or when they are laying on the floor concentrating so hard on the drawing they are making, crayon in fist, creating a mini-masterpiece. When you are cooking together and you go through almost the full dozen eggs just trying to learn how to crack them correctly (And Baby ends up wearing more than actually get in the mixing bowl). And the millions of other tiny, but amazing, things that they do on a daily basis. I capture many of these moments on tiny SD cards, and share them with friends and family… I have filled dozens of them. But mostly, I fill my brain with them, filing them away under the “extremely important” category, understanding how special each one is… And that I am the sole keeper of these historic moments… And that there is a full set of these moments, happening on the other side of the hill and across the basin that are being shared with someone unworthy of their greatness and power, that I will never know.
