daddyville

I must say that I never valued 'Family' the way that I have come to since having a child of my own. It is something magical and of a new dimension altogether that children bring to the table of family and life.
I used to feel, in a way disconnected from my relatives. It was not bad per se, it was just different. Looking back I can see that it was a lack of context, a lack of 'the threads' of relationship and connected meaning. That 'connected meaning' IS CHILDREN!! Closeness is naturally born, drawn in and weaved through the families that birth new lives. It is as natural as breathing, as drinking water, as putting on new, fresh clothes for a brand new day.
There is a Joy that is in me that has been waiting to get out. My daughter has given me the vehicle whereby that can happen: HER. Children are the instigators for the miraculous from within their parents by their very nature of being because of what they call forth out of the catacombs of the humans that are their parents. They come to help the families to which they are born and also to have the oportunity to live themselves on this beautiful green and blue Orb that we call Planet Earth.
Family gatherings are now a joy with a well defined meaning and purpose: the children. These gatherings were almost always events that I looked forward to, but now I look forward to them with great excitement for I have some special people to share with them: my partner Christina and my sweet child Shayla. Happiness.

Today while at the park with Shayla I was reminded of just how non-causal their (meaning a three year old's) thinking is. Actually, I get reminded of this everyday, however there are these lulls wherein you think it's safe to let your guard down and be a little lax and then you sometimes get shocked.
Today, was one of those days as we were at the park having a good old time with all these kids. I guess there were about 25 kids of varying ages there. Shayla is very interactive and so she starts running around with them, following certain ones and quickly becomes a part of the group mind. In situations like this one she gets very excited and does quick, spontaneous acrobatical moves that she would not otherwise take the risk to enact.
Excitement for a three year old can push other well ingrained (at home) common sense practices and rationale right out of their little head. It's not that they have a lot to work with at this age to start with, but even that gets jepordized in a field of adrenaline and excitement. There were a few times while we there that I had to instruct her on how to play with others (which she already knows, but gets lost in the frolick): take turns, ask first, at no time do you push or use force, etcetera. It's interesting how the excitement about something can override all these rules of engagement. That's not all it overrides either. There was an incident where she was going after a ball that another kid had thrown to her and being overshot she turned around and ran through a swing set on a diagonal line that was full of wildly swinging kids!! I couldn't believe that she did this! I don't think I had a right to be surprised, but I was. My heart lept up into the back of my throat, and fortunate for Shayla and for me one of the mothers that was pushing their kids caught what was happening and stopped her child in his swing just in time to avoid Shayla being slammed in the front of her head! That scared the pee diddle out of me, and Shayla, of course didn't even know what had been averted. I sighed in relief and appologized first, then thanked the mom. I then vowed...to do...what? I already keep an Eagle eye on her. I just can't help but think that these are the small miracles that keep us going day by day.
Thank goodness for those that watch over us.

It was a comforting thing yesterday to again witness that I am not the only parent that has a 3 yr. old child that is a spazz! I say this with love in my heart and a smile on my face, but where oh where do these creatures get this Energy?!! I sincerely hope that the attention span is destined to lengthen because 15 seconds is just not enough time to get much done! How, exactly one gets distracted in the bathroom Between the releasing and the wiping is just simply beyond me. Is it possible to stay on task for a full 3 minute stretch because otherwise I'm not sure where we go from here?
It's amazing that we all make it to adulthood like we do. Was I really like this at this age?? I imagine human beings growing up 'in the wild' in this day and age as I look at my little one that I still, at 3 yrs. old, have to remind how to walk, lest she hurt herself, and I cringe thinking there'd be no way that we as a species would make it. How far off the line have we gone with our rubber-soled shoes, drive through Starbucks and electronic devices? So far we have come from the actual hunting and gathering that I sometimes wonder what would happen to us minus the skyscrapers, cars, and concrete? It's a funny mental vignette when I think about baby mammals in the wild--Hey, that's what we homo sapiens are!--and the fact that my daughter has yet to get down pat drying the moisture off her skin with a piece of toilet paper,..and she's been alive for three years already! Funny stuff. :-)
So often I feel like a broken record with my daughter: do this, don't do that, do that, don't do this. A happy, tireless broken record, but a broken record nonetheless. Why don't we pop out of the womb with more of a solid state living manual embedded in our psyche? I mean some basic things could be really helpful like 'wiping your own butt: 101', 'Sanitary Procedures for Survival: Overt and Sublime', 'How to Stay Alive in a Physical World where Gravity and Mass are King', 'Cleaning Up After Yourself Pts. I, II, and III', or even something like 'How to Safely Walk a Straight Line from Point A to Point B Without Injuring Yourself or Others'. Why not?...... Surely, most assuredly, God is Laughing. It is funny I must say, and even when it's not to me I certainly hope someone, somewhere is getting a kick out of it.
Parenting is an interesting and awesome job that both requires a lot and gives a lot. It empties you and then fills you up on an almost clock-work type basis. All I'll say at this point is Thank God for the Filling Up.