Focus
Tonight I had 50 things I needed to do, but my daughter had been reminding me to keep my appointment she made for me at her in home clinic. Not long ago we ran a spa out of the back bedroom, but it seems the cosmetology days are behind us...at least for now. I think about all the times my 2nd grader had my name on a piece of paper in our hallway in order to visit her spa, and the way I felt when I realized an entire day had passed and I hadn’t taken the time to get a foot rub, a back walk or a milk facial. I remember the look in her eyes and I remember telling her I would make sure to do it tomorrow...and I am not sure I always did.
Now prepping for 3rd grade it seems we are contemplating the medical field. Dad is okay with this. A few days ago I had unknowingly been the mule that smuggled a pocket full of wooden stirring sticks out of a coffee house in Stuart, Florida. Later that evening when I realized what had happened I raised my voice scolding my 8-year old and moved towards the trash can in order to throw away the contraband.
She said, "Daddy, Wait! I need them for my doctor’s office so I can check your throat. You know, say ahhhhhhh...?"
I stopped myself before the stir sticks hit the trash can and I thought about my little girl. She just wants to play...She only wants to play and 98% of the time I am busy, or doing things, or tied up with things that pale in comparison to the little miracle in front of me.
"Okay honey," I smirked. "But we need to clean these things okay??"
As parents we can’t always drop what we’re doing to give full and undivided attention to our little ones, but we should at least be aware when they are reaching out for us to spend more time with them. Macaroni Mom and I know it won’t be too many more years when this little girl won’t want much to do with her 'dorky' parents. It's happening already, but for now, we are still sort of cool and important.
Despite having 50 things to do tonight, starved and tired, I went to my doctor’s appointment as scheduled in my daughter’s bedroom. Wearing gloves 10 times too big for her, she used a coffee stirring stick and made me say 'ahhhhhhhhh' while checking my throat. She used an old stethoscope to check my heart and lungs. She took my temperature in my ear with mommy’s favorite thermometer. She pulled my blood pressure cuff out of the closet and took my blood pressure. She tried to use one of those blue bulb 'sucky' things up my nose but I drew the line saying my sinuses were fine. Finally, she found something really, really sharp in our silverware drawer and stuck me in the arm with it (likely prompting a need for a tetanus shot) and then she put a bandage over it. She was very serious and highly focused on what she was doing and I watched her face the whole time. I watched her because I know we have already done this with two other kids and they are out of the house and going after their own lives now. I watched her face and her every action because I know it won't seem long when we only have memories of how great it was to raise this last one together. The innocence is still there, but for how long...?
Well, it’s at least here today, so I am going to enjoy it, and hopefully focus on what I should.
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