Spending time with our son at home has been a blessing. I truly cherish the times we are able to spend together. In truth, he will probably be the only child in this family to spend such a lengthy amount of the daytime hours with his Dad. The goal (and hope) is that this student-parent becomes a full-time-employee/father in the very near future. That, of course, will mean less daytime hours spent kicking a ball, changing diapers, reading stories with thick pages and few words (and lots of pictures), and gently setting a (finally) sleeping child into a crib for a morning or afternoon nap. This child may well be the only one.
In part, this is what leads me to view some of the mishaps and difficulties as adventures and excitements. This time our story begins with our son the Chocolate Adventurer. In truth, his mother is, was, and apparently always has been a chocolate lover. She loves the stuff. There is always room for the good stuff in any day of the week. This doesn’t meant that it is over-eaten but it does mean that it is preferred exclusively (other sugary alternatives never see the light of day). One of my wife’s wishes was that her children would also share this love… and our son does.
It has not been rare, in recent weeks, to find our son sitting (after a moment of silence) in some corner of the house chewing through aluminum foil or wax paper to taste the sweet chocolatey goodness of the inner contents. While we have tried moving it (originally it was in a low drawer) he always seems to find some. He doesn’t seem to be climbing yet so his adventures are puzzling. At any rate, he is able to find his prize and secretly devour a healthy chunk of it before he is found out. It’s hard to be upset. While he certainly shouldn’t be eating it (at least not that much!) it is difficult to punish a bright blue eyes with a chocolate covered smile. He even offers to share. Chocolate is an adventure.