fatherhood

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Dear Holly: Your First Alabama Snow

8 years, 8 months.

Dear Holly,

Last Friday, school was cancelled due to the possibility of snow… and it definitely snowed enough to keep the buses from running.

Mommy and I both had to work. Not only were we both too busy to take you and your brother out in the snow, you also didn’t need us to.

That’s because you had plenty of fun following your brother around as he made our family’s snowman.

I truly appreciate the fact that you both were able to take care of yourselves outside in the snow, as Mommy and I watched through the windows as we worked.

This may be hard to understand now, but when you get older, the snow can be more exciting to experience from the comfort of inside your own warm home; as opposed to actually being outside in the snow.

But for now, I want you to enjoy the snow outside!

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You Did the Dishes on Your Own!

8 years, 8 months.

Dear Holly,

It is a known fact that I can not chill out enough to go to bed until all the dishes are done. In fact, the moment I get done with work everyday, I immediately clean all the dishes in the sink from throughout the day so far; so that it’s less intimidating to tackle the additional dishes that will need to be cleaned after dinner.

So I was so delighted this past Monday that without saying a word, you pulled up a stool to the kitchen sink and began washing the dishes from the Christmas cake you and Mommy made for our upcoming dinner party that night.

I just love the thought of you becoming my new dishwashing buddy. I think we could make a really good team!

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Our Whole Finally Joined the Christmas Parade!

8 years, 7 months.

Dear Holly,

Apparently the plan was for you and your brother to ride with Nonna and Papa in the Christmas parade last Friday, as Papa is part of the local Jeep club.

But the night before, there was so much logistical planning involved. I explained to Mommy, “Okay, so before the parade starts, we need to park one of our cars on one side of the town to pick up the kids once the parade is over, so we can easily get to the kids to take them home. It’s going to be so cold and they will already be outside for so long already.”

She simply responded, “Do we all just want to be the parade?”

And that is how our whole family ended up throwing candy in the Fort Payne Christmas parade. I feel confident that we have now begun a new Christmas family tradition here on our first Christmas as a family in Alabama.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You are the Helper and the Host

8 years, 7 months.

Dear Holly,

Both for your brother’s recent birthday dinner as well as our big Thanksgiving dinner at our house coming up today, you assigned yourself the task of setting the table and assigning everyone’s places at the table.

This is particularly interesting to me, as this year I have pinpointed exactly which Enneagram each person in our family is. As an Enneagram 2 Wing 3, yours is referred to as “The Hostess”.

As your Daddy, you truly make it so easy to adore you. I love your gentle and kind spirit. I love how you are always aware of others’ needs.

You are so special to me.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: I’m Not the Handyman, but You Are!

14 years old.

Dear Jack,

One of my many life mottos is this:

“Be proud of your strengths and make jokes about your weaknesses.”

With that being said, there has never been any question that the “handyman gene” went straight from one Jack Shell (Papa) to the next Jack Shell (you).

In other words, it totally skipped me!

But I am happy for you that you have the kind of brain that is eager to get in there and figure out how to fix whatever it is that needs fixing; when it comes to home repairs.

Yes, it’s true we paid off our mortgage a few weeks ago. However, that doesn’t change the fact that owning a home means that there is always something that must be considered “under construction”.

And I am certainly not the man for the job!

Love,

Daddy