fatherhood

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Dear Holly: Are You Going to Start Taking Cheerleading Lessons?

6 years, 5 months.

Dear Holly,

This past Saturday morning, I took you to a trial class for cheerleading. You decided this year you didn’t want to further pursue dance or gymnastics; despite how good you are at both!

Mommy got an email letting us know there was a recent opening in the cheerleading class, so I took you there to see what you thought of it.

The answer: You completely loved it.

Especially the part about you being the smallest girl there, which meant they practiced on you as the one to lift up into the air.

I hope you decide to pursue cheerleading classes. I saw that you clearly are a natural at it!

Love,

Daddy

 

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Dear Jack: You Sleep in a Human Hamster Nest Now?

11 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

A few weeks ago, Mommy rearranged the furniture in our bonus room. We also got a new TV for that room; one that is new enough to have Disney+ on it.

That turned into “Movie Night” on Saturdays; which ultimately meant you and your sister sleep in the bonus room after you either watch a movie, or a few episodes of a Disney show.

However, it become this instead: You play computer games while your sister watches Disney.

To make things more comfortable for yourself, you built what I can only describe as a “hamster nest”.

I took a picture of both your nest and our pet hamster’s.

Yeah, pretty much the same thing.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Your 1st School Dance… With Girls!

11 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Friday night, Mommy and I drove you and your best friend Landon to your first school dance! And yes, a dance where there were girls.

However, you were super chill about the whole thing. But it was very important to you that you were able to go.

I kept asking, “Are you sure you are going to feel comfortable wearing a t-shirt? Are you sure you won’t feel underdressed?”

To be sure, I snuck a few button down shirts in the car just in case.

But sure enough, this apparently was a very casual middle school dance where no one really dressed up.

You confirmed that boys and girls in 6th grade weren’t really dancing with each other.

It mainly was just a way to hang out. Either way, you were so glad you went!

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You’re Working on Doing the Splits

6 years, 4 months.

Dear Holly,

You have taken it upon yourself to be able to do the splits. So at our house, it is a normal thing to see you practicing on the living room floor, at any given time.

The funny thing is, you recently decided to stop doing gymnastics classes.

You have moved on to hip hop dance classes instead.

But there is something appealing to you about being able to do the splits, so you continue practicing.

I will say- I am so impressed that you can do the splits so well, at a young age; not having a ton of practice or experience.

Makes you wonder how far you will get with it!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: You are an Enneagram 3W4 (Achiever/Invidualist)

11 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

Ever since becoming certified as an Enneagram coach last December, I have had trouble getting a solid reading on you.

But as of this past week, it become clear:

You are an Enneagram 3 (The Achiever) with a dominant wing 4 (The Individualist).

Mommy and I have never put pressure on you to do well in school… nor in Taekwondo, nor in building complicated Lego sets, nor helping us build furniture we order off the Internet!

Yet you constantly excel in everything you do. While Mommy and I aren’t putting this constant “pressure to succeed” on you… you do.

What convinced me was when you came home from school last week, so proud, for certifiably excelling in all your subjects at school, in last year’s standardized test.

As proud of you that Mommy and I assured you that we were of you, it was apparent you were even prouder!

But you’re not only focusing on succeeding in life, you also like to stand out; like how you recently helped purchase your own (expensive!) Nike shoes for the new school year.

For the past couple of years now, you have openly acknowledged your goal to own a Tesla. That is what you have your sights on!

And I am confident you have what it takes… with no help from Mommy or me on that.

I wanted to surprise you with a gift to make you feel special regarding your amazing test scores. So I snuck by Marshall’s and bought you a $100 Sean Jean watch that you had recently pointed out to me.

And it because it was from Marshall’s, I only paid $20.

Either way, you are undeniably smarter than me!

I have always known you are going to go far in life. And now I realize, it’s fundamentally your personality to achieve and to be a creative individual in the process!

Love,

Daddy