The Hardest Part
I've found being a dad to be a naturally easy role to assume. It's a good fit for me. Most of the daily tasks I need to perform as manager of the household are not terribly difficult. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, decluttering... I can be on auto-pilot for those types of chores.
Being a "dad" to my kids is also easy. I've learned quite a lot over the years, and I have a lot more to learn, but I enjoy the process. Teaching, playing, loving, nurturing, listening...
Uh, about that last one. That's where I have some difficulty. Normally I'm a very good listener. Better than most, I think. I can carry on a conversation with my kids for hours. I listen carefully and guide them through the give-and-take of a fun and healthy discussion.
But there's this specific situation that throws me for a loop. Quite frankly, it makes me loopy. It's when my son, who has an extremely active imagination, starts telling me a long and drawn-out story about some fantasy world he's created. He does this almost every day. This morning it was a tale about the evil gray-white cat lord named Mr. Bean who was leading his cat troopers into battle against the king of the cats, King Milo. It was interesting at first, as all his stories are, but after about five minutes my mind begins to wander and my eyelids feel heavy.
That, for me, is the hardest part of being a dad -- pretending to be interested in all the weird and wonderful things that come out of my kids' imagination. And since that's my only complaint, I'm just going to count my blessings and practice my listening skills!
Being a "dad" to my kids is also easy. I've learned quite a lot over the years, and I have a lot more to learn, but I enjoy the process. Teaching, playing, loving, nurturing, listening...
Uh, about that last one. That's where I have some difficulty. Normally I'm a very good listener. Better than most, I think. I can carry on a conversation with my kids for hours. I listen carefully and guide them through the give-and-take of a fun and healthy discussion.
But there's this specific situation that throws me for a loop. Quite frankly, it makes me loopy. It's when my son, who has an extremely active imagination, starts telling me a long and drawn-out story about some fantasy world he's created. He does this almost every day. This morning it was a tale about the evil gray-white cat lord named Mr. Bean who was leading his cat troopers into battle against the king of the cats, King Milo. It was interesting at first, as all his stories are, but after about five minutes my mind begins to wander and my eyelids feel heavy.
That, for me, is the hardest part of being a dad -- pretending to be interested in all the weird and wonderful things that come out of my kids' imagination. And since that's my only complaint, I'm just going to count my blessings and practice my listening skills!
Permalink posted by Phil at 10:37 PM
2 Comments:
It's awesome your son is creating fantasy worlds. It means you've nutured his creative side to such an extent that he's already a powerful thinker.
My son is 3, and he's also showing signs that he invents fantasy worlds. For example, we take his blanket and lay it out on his bed, which he calls a flattened road and we drive cars on it. In his mind he sees beaches and houses.
As his ideas evolve I plan to write down some of his worlds. Maybe you can do the same, or at least help your son write down his fantasies. That would be a good writing lesson for him and it would get you more involved without glazing over. Or maybe you can construct his world as a crafts project?
Hmmm. I think I'm going to write about the flattened road on my site. Thanks for the idea.
I always thought it would be fun to write down the silly or weird or funny things my kids say when they are young and then get that book out when they are older and read through it with them.
My mom has some secret stash of stuff from our childhood that she won't show us yet, but she's dying with anticipation and says that my brother and I will "just die" when we see what she has. I don't know exactly when we get to see it, but I'm sure we'll all have a good laugh over it.
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