For the last couple months it’s been hard for me to get some time to myself to go out and experience the occasional joy of the cinema. Not that I usually mind, as Hollywood has been notoriously ass-like of late, but they do occasionally poop out something worth my time to watch. This week, in comparison of ones earlier in the month and year, was absolutely luxurious. I had time to do a few road trips on my new bike around the outskirts of Calgary, indulge in some Jolt and Jack, and generally do nothing important for a day or two. And then, I went to see How To Train Your Dragon…and I became a kid again.
Life for the last few months has been a blender of shattered REM sleep, dates on the calendar, and spending what little time I can with my family and friends whenever I can. Senie is back at work, and is now a proud driver, rediscovering the freedom of movement and the joy of the open road (which I am very happy for) and we purposely stagger our work/sleep schedules to ensure little Simeon always has one of us around…or a babysitter during the rush to commute. Unfortunately, because of night shifts and naps, I have always felt that I wasn’t quite doing the Dad thing 100%. Simeon is wonderfully forgiving when his father needs an extra 20 minutes to snooze, and will usually just play in his crib until he gets bored enough to wake me up with ingenious use of his cuteness and terrible lung capacity. I wake up, waddle on over half asleep, and after the diaper duty will usually just feed him, let him run around for a bit, and then hope he gets tired enough to let me have another quick snooze.
Now, here’s the danger in giving me a bunch of sugar, speed and inspirational movies: I realized quite abruptly I was doing it wrong. And so I decided I need to fix it.
The one thing that really struck me about How to Train Your Dragon was how the main characters, a boy and a dragon, actually played together. Now, naturally culture and physiology make chess, Nintendo or a game of football a bit hard for them, so most of it was flying, exploring, and rough-housing like you always see wolves doing on the Discovery Channel with their cubs. One second you think “My God! Those little puppies are going to eat each other’s faces!” but then you realize: No…that’s how they play.
Suddenly, thanks to Vikings, Dragons, Epic Bromance and some wonderful Chris Sanders influenced character design, all those instincts unlocked in my DNA and jumped forth to the surface. So, when it was time to set Simeon down and let him play with his toys, I instead began chasing him around the living room. If you’re ever unsure about how to make a young child beam at you with absolute joy, I’m quite certain that the ingredients include tickles, rolling around, throwing into the air, and running/bouncing off of things. Evolution must be training us to be masters of some giant bouncy-castle world in the near future, because I’m hard-pressed to think of another reason why we so naturally love to tumble and rebound off of things, zoom around at maximum speed, and then laugh off the pain of skinned knees and bumped heads. Or maybe the answer is much more simple than that…and we’re just prepping for the fluffy cloud, joy filled Heaven that Gary Larson always drew.
Whatever the reason, whatever the instincts, we need to play to get the most out of life, and I realized I needed to start, not only for Simeon, but for myself as well. It was the first time in a few weeks that I truly and honestly felt like a proper Dad. Any babysitter can feed, clothe and bathe a child…and even the most neglectful parents will still get looks of adoration and trust from their baby. But this…this was pure gold. Two kids laughing and acting goofy, and at the end of it all, when a bonk to the head was a bit too much and Simeon started crying, Dad was there to pick him up, make sure it was OK, and grin at him until he realized that everything would be alright after all, and that life would go on.
I think I may just be cut out for this Dad thing after all.
Posted under Colapost
Dude,
As a soon-to-be father, you’ve given me a shot of confidence that this whole thing is gonna work out just fine. I’m not ashamed to admit it: I’ve started stressing about what kind of father I’m going to be for my daughter in the early stages… I think you’re helping to point me in the right direction.
Thanks from an old fan, brah!
It’s hard work to provide all the necessities. Making sure your family has all the care, attention, food, shelter, etc is the hard part. However, I find that actually being a Dad is the best, most natural, and easiest job in the world. All you gotta do is remember how to be a kid again, just a little bit. 🙂
Add A Comment