My daughter is six-years old, going on 14.  She loves to draw, laugh and ride bikes. Her favorite animal is a toucan and she has donated seven teeth to a toothfairy named “Starlight”.  She is beautiful in the place it counts, and best of all – she still runs to me.

I see her after school, and she runs to me.  Walking in from work…here she comes.  Curly hair everywhere, legs flailing, crooked smile and all – she runs to me.

 

I know there is a day coming soon when that will stop.  The run will turn to a walk.  The  smile might turn into a very calculated and cordial smirk.  And all the reckless and unfiltered love that runs hard toward her Daddy might be swallowed down by approval, acceptance and cool.

 

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There is a strange phenomenon that I lived and understand completely but can’t necessarily explain:  For kids, there is hardly anything greater than staying in a hotel.  Add a pool to that and it’s pretty much heaven.  More on this in a second... 

One of the best times we can remember as a family came about two years ago when we went to Legoland and stayed in a hotel for two nights.  Madeline and Grant (3 and 4 at the time) had stayed in hotels before, but this was the first time we would do it with just the four of us.  The entire two days seemed set apart and very special, and the greatness began shortly after we arrived.

We check into our room and the phenomenon kicks in after about 14 seconds.  We were in one of those places similar to the Embassy Suites with a mini-kitchen, living room and a separate bedroom.  The kids began running around from room to room like little nutbars.  They were literally going crazy.  Screaming, laughing, jumping on beds, more loud screaming, slamming doors, screaming…

Jenn and I were marveling at our kids on speed when I decided to call them over to me.  I used a very serious tone and made them stand in front of me – no talking.  

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It's Father's day, so I figured I would write about the day it all began. I have a five-year-old son, Grant, and a 6 –year-old daughter. Here are some pictures from the day Madeline arrived...

Snapshot 1 :: I was ready
I was prepared. I had gone to class to learn about all of this. I knew how to help Jenn breathe. I knew how to do the “burrito wrap”. I went to “Daddy Boot Camp” class. Heck, I even went to a breastfeeding class – really, I did.

We arrive at the hospital early morning so they can begin to induce Jenn. I have with me, my bag of awesomeness. In my bag are all the things that will make me the best husband of all time.

Side note: The bag is huge.

Hot chocolate and a ride on an electric boat.

Two amazing things to a 4-year-old.  These could be his if he would just swim five feet to me with his head in the water.  Easier said than done.

His cold little body shivered on the side of the pool.  His eyes were red and a bit puffy from plenty of crying.  He continued to say through his tears, "I can't Daddy, I can't."  But he had - many times before during swim lessons.  But for some reason, this day was different.

Our family was at a wonderful vacation resort in the desert and had been building up to this moment for about 30 minutes.  We splashed around while I cast visions of the boat ride, chocolate goodness, and way more "you can do its" and "you don't have to if you don't want tos" than he could possibly need.