daddyville

We decided to come for a dip in the pool after Shayla's sleep-over...

I didn't know what to expect or how exactly I would feel as this night unfolded. Frankly, I was surprised as I sat on the couch and noticed around midnight that I was starting to feel a little antsy. It was not really all that 'pleasant'--nor did I expect it would be. What I can liken it to most would be a muted version of a panic attack--No, not pleasant at all! I had to talk myself out of this thing that was happening to me. I realized right away that it was not my conscious mind that was doing this. It was a very strong auto-pilot program that was controlling me at that moment. I had to willfully breathe deeply a rhythmic succession of breaths as I pulled out my phone and quickly texted my daughter's friend's mother to make sure that everything was going fine. She replied that it was and that they were all having a great time. I knew that was true down deep in my gut even before I texted her......"so why all this panic", I am asking myself? "Great", I think to myself, "THIS is the part of all this that is no fun whatsoever. This is what all the parents warn you about when they talk about the 'cons' of your little kids growing up.

Oh well. It's going to happen no matter. I suppose I can only become friends with it. :) Not only that, but it's bound to increase in it's challenge of intensity as is obvious.

Once again, I sit here realizing that we have just crossed yet another 'parental-right-of-passage'.

"Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream".......

We are excited for our daughter, even if we have to remind ourselves to take deep breaths when thinking about this little adventure that our daughter is going on. Shayla's friend and her mom are coming in about half an hour to pick her up. She is so excited and we, her parents, are wondering what in the world we are going to do with ourselves---and in the middle of the week!?

....I think it's going to be okay. I trust that we'll figure out what to do with our time.

Hooray for Shayla! She continues to grow and develop....and now she is making some potentially really good friends. :)

after a long, hard day of swimming. They report that they had a blast! I imagine that they did. Me: I really enjoyed A/C today.

Kids--most kids when they are young--are like Solid State Hard Drives in the morning. Their eyes fly open and they are UP! This, in many cases (mine included) runs counter to their parents which operate more like the old SATA Hard Disk Drives--which are much slower to 'boot up'. It isn't exactly a collision, but it certainly takes some adjustment on both of their parts to come to a waking up protocol that works for everyone. I see it as an exercise in discovery....(positive outlook Required).