Fatherhood

The help of other parents is always appreciated. Jen and I have gotten all kinds of advice ... from the practical to the insane (generally, these come from parents to non-parents). Yesterday, at church, I think we got our first true help from a parent ... and we don't even know who she is ... Patrick was getting a bit antsy when the woman in front of us reached into her bag and pulled out two children's books. She turned a bit and handed them to us saying, "I've got a whole bag-full." Later on, she swapped out these two books for two more ... incredible. In the seventeen months since he was born, this is the first real assistance we have gotten from a parent (that wasn't being paid for the help). Very cool ... I wish we had gotten her name.

Being an older (no, not infirm yet ... at least another day or two) father, I've gotten to enjoy quite a bit of time single (not that much fun, looking back) and even more so, being married without children. Now that I'm a father, some things are getting re-evaluated ... the '98 Ford Mustang GT that I fell in love with the first time I drove it, is one of those things. It is a big car ... not much room in the back, but his toddler seat fits. Sort of. The car's fast which he loves ... Mama, not so much when he's in the back seat.  It' a beautiful shade of blue which doesn't compensate for the dislocated shoulder at the hospital trying to reach the parking tag from the driver's seat. I have to admit that I have been re-thinking the Mustang's practicality while sitting in the back seat of my mother's Jeep Patriot with Patrick asleep on top of me (we are stopped at the moment), writing this post. The Mustang would never have worked for this ...