Princess Rosebud asked me to list the ten (or hundred) best things about being a father to a little boy. I settled on 18. It seemed like a good number at the time. Anyway, give it a read and let me know how I did in the comments.
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In no particular order:
- Giggles
- Little boy hugs and smooches
- All those squirrels
- Snuggles while reading books
- Being told, “I love you” out of the blue
- The wild swings, from a miniature to grandiose scale and back again, of the saying: never a dull moment
- Imaginative playtime
- Parrot mode
- Helper mode
- The random moments of song
- The unexpected insights and moments of brilliance
- Silly mode
- The dimples
- Mischievous blue eyes sparkling with a million sunsets reflecting off the surf
- Thud
- The fearlessness
- Unbiased and unfiltered joy at new discoveries
- Seeing the world untouched by my own jaded view
The Matticus Kingdom 
So many of these are part of fathering children, particularly boys. I see many of them in my memories, as my son will be 21 next March. Hold onto these as they morph so quickly …
Hanging on with both hands! I have to! He’s so fast and squirmy!!
Aren’t they all!
I’ve heard rumors…
Yes, yes, YES! It’s such a joy to see the world through their bright, unjaded eyes. You got it. Well done! I’m off to see DIL today, son flies down on Friday (they’ll be living together SOON) and I can’t wait until I get to watch him with his own Angel Boy.
You are going to have so much fun being a grandparent. That kiddo is going to be loved!
As all children should be, right? I’m happy to join the grandparent’s club!
Yes, exactly!
I love this. I loved so many of those same things as a parent. 🙂
I think most parents will relate. Well, hopefully most will…
Thud. A most excellent one. 🙂
Thank you!
Squirrels!?!?
Running joke in the kingdom. His attention span is so short that he often widely fluctuates topics, desires, games within the span of seconds. I’ve taken to asking, “Did you see that squirrel run through here?” when that happens.
Ah…. the “Up!” reference. I thought maybe you’d gotten the Prince a bunch of cute little pets…
Haha! No. The house is full enough already. The Kingdom cats and little prince take up a lot of space.
Oh, yeah!
I know!! How different would your list be if we switched to talking about older children?
well, a few might be sort of creepy now…ha
Color me intrigued. Want to elaborate?
not really… ha
Fair enough. Rather boring of you though. 😝
I guess, technically, I was just bemoaning the fact that, while my kids are still huggers, there isn’t a lot of smooching going on any more… and snuggling has been replaced with moments of sitting close together side by side… and my older daughter lives another freakin’ state and the younger one is taking so many AP classes that imaginative playtime has been replaced by unimaginative homework time. And I now have to watch as the world untouched by my jaded viewpoint is now being thrown in her face in the usual ways of by mean girls and cavalier boys, and she is really sensitive and it is heartbreaking to watch the world jade her viewpoint… but other than that I still get most of those… so…
I think you continued the thought perfectly. Thank you.
I should never have thought about it… now I am depressed…
Cheer up! You raised two great kids!
I did, didn’t I!
Part of me feels so left out, being childless and all. I would want a boy, though, if I had a child. I know how awful girls are as they are growing up, I don’t think boys are quite so bad in that regard 😉
They both have their bad days, and years. And don’t feel left out! Enjoy your ability to sleep, to travel, to keep your own schedule! Enjoy your freedom from diapers and temper tantrums
Yes well, I may be enjoying that freedom forever, whether I want to or not, so there’s that… but nothing is definitive yet.
Yeah, I understand. It’s hard when you may or may not have the choice… I think things are going to work out for you, whichever way is best.
Thud wil never change, along with several of these. Even now,with M at 19, he will surprise me with his insight into something. Random, usually, but insightful still.
Random and insightful often go together in the kingdom too.
I couldn’t help smiling at ‘dimples’. Him so cute. And kiddo logic rocks! They have a way of breaking things down to the basics.
The dimples are impossible to resist!
Never a dull moment, in all its contexts, says it all.
Exactly.
Thud. That dimple could be items #19 through #100. ❤
I considered stopping at dimples in the list… but she said 10, so I felt I had to keep going.
What an awesome topic. Oh yeah about the dimple. He’sa cutie. I like livin vicariously through my friends with children. I hear they eat and stuff (or at least that’s what T tells me and he has two).
They do eat. A lot. Sometimes more than me. It’s like a superpower. Of course, the curse of it, sometimes more comes out the other end… It’s some weird physics I don’t understand.
Gah! *Runs away.*
Smart move. Very smart… It’ll catch you, though. There’s too much. It’s going to swallow the world…