I don't think my father was ever as impressed with me as I am with my cubs. My firstborn is not as athletic as I'd want him to be, but he's been taking my football and my basketball outside a lot lately. That's a good thing. I don't think that I was all that athletic a child, but I stayed outside. I grew into my athleticism...and my body.
I spent 4 1/2 months in kindergarten and 4 1/2 in the first grade. Consequently, I was the youngest person in all of my classes except for the eighth grade. I was always picked last. It wasn't until I grew up and looked back that I realized that I was simply too young for some of the things that I was trying to do. After the clumsy period of my freshman year of high school, when I grew six inches in three months, I kind of grew into my body and my athletic efforts started showing results.
Alexi, my oldest son, sometimes asks me how to do things physically. I try to take time and show him the ways that I've found to effectively handle situations. He normally learns quickly, too. Little Bear relates, but she rarely asks "how". BamBam, on the other hand, already wears the assured confidence and swagger of an accomplished athlete. Every day, I wonder what kind of teen and man he'll become because he can already do things that I couldn't or didn't do until I was a teenager. He wears my smirk as if I was only keeping it warm for him.
This isn't to say that I don't have a sense of wonder about my firstborn. It's just that he reacts to things so often as I expect that I kind of know him. Li'l Bear surprises me sometimes with her acerbic remarks and makes me laugh out loud. BamBam swings for the fences with every response. I rarely know what's going to come out of his mouth next.
Sometimes, they're in a room discussing the world as they know it. There's no animosity or ridicule. They're just talking. I shamelessly eavesdrop. 10, 8 & 5...and the five-year-old is giving as much input as the 10-year-old. Or, they're all talking about somebody that gets on all their nerves...like the little boys next door. Whoo! Hilarious!
Can you tell that I love being a daddy? As I've said before, people have it all wrong. "Father" is a social term describing a biological relationship. "Daddy" is a term of endearment. I'm not just the sperm donor. I'm the backstop for them. They think that I know everything and that I can do anything. I just hope our relationship survives the coming realization that I'm just a man. A big, strong, fast & capable man...but, only a man.
Shoot, my own ego almost shattered when I realized that about myself.
Anyway, time for City of Heroes.
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