A Letter To His Son

I stumbled upon a blog I'd never seen before, One Child Left Behind, and found an incredibly beautiful and humorous post, On the Event of Your Seventh Birthday. It's an open letter from the author to his son.

Two short excerpts:

"One time, after sending you to the corner, I realized that parents need discipline more than children do, but there’s no one to give it. So the next time I made a mistake, I told you that you could punish me. You sent me to the corner, and you made me stay there a loooong time. It wasn’t fun, but I found myself playing with the light switch. Just like you do."

"Part of me almost hopes that you’ll do something incredibly stupid, like sell my truck to the neighbor for a plate of spaghettios, just so I can look you in the eye and tell you, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do, I’ll always be here for you, in forgiveness and gratitude for being a part of your life.’"

Go and read the whole thing. It's long, but well worth it (have a tissue nearby). I wish I could write like that to my son, who turns 7 this month. Maybe I can. Maybe I'll try.