Dads are fun…

Or at least Connor’s dad is fun. Sometimes I wonder which of my men have more fun when they go to the park. Ed is happy to scamper up the slide, climb on the equipment, and generally return to his long ago youth to entertain Connor. A few days ago, he went to the park with Connor and reported that none of the moms were any fun. They all just sat around on the benches watching their kids and even though some of their kids wanted to be pushed in Connor’s little red car, they didn’t budge. (Ed, naturally, took a few of them on a spin.)


Ed also comes up with countless games for Connor to play around the house – that really tap into Connor’s destructive, freewheeling nature. For example, Connor’s inflatable bathtub comes with some little inflatable rings – and there’s a place on the bathtub that the rings can be placed. When I bathe Connor, we talk about the colors of the rings (pink, green, and yellow) and practice putting them in their intended place. Connor seems very proud of himself and has mastered a few colors in the process. Ed puts these rings in his mouth, spits them towards Connor and says “phooey”. Connor laughs.

On Saturday morning, Connor and I were playing with one of his toys – and all of a sudden Ed and all his energy bounded into the room – and the next words I heard out of Ed’s mouth were “Sorry I interrupted your nice quiet play”. Uh yeah, me too, because now one of us has to chase the little man around the house as he attempts to open and close every door, cabinet, and drawer that he can get into and try and keep our house from being destroyed before we’ve even had breakfast.



One of the parks we go to has a HUGE slide – which is built into the side of a hill. It is fantastic. I guarantee that even if Ed didn’t have the excuse of Connor, he would slide down the thing at full tilt, just because it’s so darn tempting. We met a friend there and as fun as it is to watch Connor go down the slide, we’ve seen the look of delight from him before. It was pure joy watching Zoe’s first trip down the slide. In a few months, I imagine they’ll both be abandoning parents and heading down the giant slide on their own – but for now, parental presence is suggested, if not required.

And…just so you know your mama can still hang, Connor, I went down the slide with you too!


Elaine