January 9, 2015
Tonight I was snuggling my five year old to sleep. My seven year old asked me to snuggle her and
I told her that I would after I
snuggle my five year old (I don’t say, “after I snuggle my five year old” to my
seven year old. We’re not that formal,
but I do like to call my kids “Mr. Magoo” or “Ms. Magoo,” and while “Mr.” and
“Ms”. sound formal, “Magoo” is not formal. No offense, if your last or first name is “Magoo”). So my five year old is like, “You can go
snuggle her (the seven year old) if Dad comes in and snuggles me.” I wanted to ask him, “Who do you like to
snuggle more?” Of course, I didn’t ask.
And it’s not like I’m competing with my husband, but let’s face it, he’s
kind of a cool guy, and he’s a lot of fun.
For example, my kids love to wrestle.
And they like to ask us to wrestle with them. And often, when they ask Dad, he’s like,
“That’s pretty much the only thing I want to do right now! Bring it!” And then they have a wrestle party
with the cool dad. When they say, “Mom
do you want to wrestle?” I’m like,
“never,” but I don’t say that. I
actually, on occasion, have found myself saying, “Okay.” And then I get in wrestling position, and I
do a couple of “air” moves, and then I look surprised and go, “Oh, I have to do
something real quick” and then I dash off leaving them in a state of wonder
(not wonder like, “Why is she so cool?” but wonder like, “where is she
going?”), and I grab a cookie and hide in a corner. They usually forget about wrestling once I’ve
finished my treat. But Dad wrestles,
and wrestles for a long time, and comes up with new wrestling games for dads
and kids, and then writes a book on it and has a photo shoot with the kids that
is included in the back of the book (as I’m writing this he actually just said,
“I just finished making all of the kids sandwiches for school.”) Can you blame me for wondering, “Who do you
like to snuggle more?”
Also, Dad’s really good at doing homework and school
projects with the kids. And I’m like,
“Boo homework!!!” And I want to say to
my kids, “I don’t know why you guys put up with that?” But I don’t say it, and I just watch in
admiration as my husband encourages my kids to “Reach for the stars” and “Never
settle” and “You’ve got plans” and “Don’t ever give up” and “An apple a day
keeps the doctor away” and “Happy + Ness = Happiness” and “If you go to sleep
with a smile on your face, you’ll wake up with a smile” and “Follow the Yellow
Brick Road” and “If you go to sleep dreaming about what you want to be, when
you wake, up you’ll magically be it,” and lots of other encouraging statements. But I had a really cool moment today. My 2nd grader needed help with her
homework and I took the bull by the horns, and I was like, “Come here, I’ve
looked it over, and let me talk to you about this,” and she was like, “Okay,”
and I talked to her about capitals, and commas, and adding, and stuff, and I’ve
got to admit, I was killing it! My
confidence soared in that moment, and I realized that I could do anything if I
set my mind to it, as long as it’s not over 4th grade.
