March Madness

Some days this whole parenting thing really sneaks up on you. It’s like routine, routine, routine, then suddenly, boom: Butterfly visit!

Earlier this week B was napping I was reading a couple pages of a book on the porch while J played. He came running in and said, “Daddy, a butterfly landed on my head.” I noted that he was unusually excited, but it didn’t register with me for a minute what he actually said. I’m used to him making stuff up, so my brain has put in place a built-in filtering system and the filtering system flagged this as likely made up. He dragged me out though and sure enough there was a butterfly fluttering around. And he was unusually docile. Wait, what am I saying? Not sure if his docility was abnormal or not, really. I’m not at all an expert on normal butterfly behavior. Anyway, the butterfly would land on my head and hand and finally I was able to transfer him into J’s hand. And that was the moment of brilliance. That face, that reaction. Pure awe and joy.

These are the moments that make this whole messy life worth it. Sometimes people ask me what my parenting philosophy is; actually, that’s never happened, but I sometimes wish that it would. I have my answer ready: Survive and Advance. Of course, I stole that motto from NCAA March Madness, see it’s even topical right now, so if anyone is looking to ask please do so in the next couple days or wait until next year, and obviously, do not ask me face-to-face or (for God’s sakes) on the phone. Questions such as these (and by such as these I mean any) are accepted by text, email, or social media message only. If you know me personally, you know that’s pretty much implied, but for any newcomers out there, just because I’m super long-winded on here doesn’t mean I want to talk to any of you in person. Thanks in advance.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the butterfly thing and then the parenting philosophy tangent came up for some reason. Believe it or not, it is actually relevant here because the butterfly moments are the ones you survive and advance for: The cut-down-the-nets moments. Sometimes they feel like they are few and far between, but the great part is you never know when the next one is going to come. When channeled properly (i.e., never) that feeling of constant anticipation can power you through even the toughest days. Time to stow this one away in the old memory bank, I’m sure I’ll need to draw on it soon, probably within the next 8 minutes or so.