Staying Inside the Lines, Then and Now

A seminal part of any father’s life arrives during a family dining experience when his kid is finally, enough already, ready to ditch the booster.

The kid then opts for tongue-sticking-out-of-mouth scribbling on specialized kid menus -- the ones with dinosaurs, tic-tac-toe, connect the dots, and smiling hamburgers come to life.

It’s a warm memory now, but it popped up again while dining recently in one of those busy, happy-happy-birthday places. Next to us, a mother ordered a margarita and looked over her clan. Her two young girls colored inside the lines while an older one penned earnest thoughts into a diary.

Meanwhile, my 19-year-old daughter directed traffic, doing hostess stuff, while my other daughter, age 16, ate with her parents. She, the younger one, is still staying inside the lines, but now it’s on the road with her learner’s permit.

Everyone says kids grow up fast, and I’m not disputing that. Family nights at the diner are part of the growing-up-too-fast memory bank. That stuff fades eventually, but the sweet thing about storing memories in a secured mental vault is that there are always new ones – driving, good grades, giving it all in sports, Facebook shout-outs to mom or dad.

The bad always finds a way to balance out the good, of course, no matter how much you want throw a blanket over your kids during certain hard times. How do you tells your kids that Grandpa died? What do you say when little voices ask you about earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear meltdowns?

It’s happened in the past, it’s happening now, it’ll happen in the future.

Sometimes you just want to grab hold of a memory -- an aww moment when life simply made great sense. With everything spinning so fast now, I remember a card from a young lady now learning to drive, a special message from elementary school. A keeper, one I knew even then that must be saved.

I love you Dad from A to Z, this card will show what you’ve done for me.

Always encourages me

Buys me ice-cream cones at McDonalds

Cares for me

Does things for me

Eats my leftover toast in the morning

Fixes my bike

Gives me money to buy things

Helps me make dinner (sometimes)

Itches my back

Jokes to make me laugh

Kills the spiders

Loves me

Makes my lunches for dinner

Never lies

Opens my pickle jars

Prints pictures for me

Quiet when I’m doing my homework

Reminds me to put sunscreen on

Skates with me

Takes me to fun places

Understands me

Very helpful

Watches movies with me

Xcellent at being my Dad

You always help me

Zips my jacket