Feeling great

There is probably no time a parent feels more valued than when your child comes to you in tears and wants nothing more than to be held, because you are the only person that can make him feel better.
In his time of crisis, he immediately turns to you. It's humbling and empowering.
And those feelings of parental vitality are in no way diminished by the fact that he's crying because he fell off the first step while you weren't paying attention.
The child is too young to make the connection between the bump on his head and your incompetence. And that's what important. And beautiful.

Things learned, so far

Recently, a friend asked Matt what he's learned since Mark came home. An interesting question. After some long pondering, here's what Matt came up with:

- The best things in the world are family and good friends. The second best things are: time to spend with family and naps.
- It's amazing how fast you can learn the body language signals of a little person who cannot speak.
- Television is a horrible, terrible invention. Watching it night and day makes Matt scared for this country's future.
- You think you know the words to nursery rhymes, but you really don't. And then when you look them up, they're either creepy or completely insane. ("And down will come baby, cradle and all...")
- Having a baby with you makes it significantly easier to shoplift. Not only does is the child a distraction to store security, the stroller provides many places to hide fairly large items. Merry Christmas, indeed!
- Putting your hand in poo: no big deal.
- Kids don't like scratchy beards. Even sporadic, pathetic, should-be-on-a-teenager beards.
- Sometimes you're proud when your kid is feeling two foot tall.
- A kid who sits around doing nothing all day, contributing nothing to the house, having no possessions and no knowledge, can still be the most valuable and amazing thing in your home.