Note To Self

Dear Me,

I am writing this from the middle of a living room which is the opposite of tidy.  This is significant because I'm a total everything-in-it's-place kind of guy.  I mean this, not in a personality way, rather in an OCD way.  Netflix is filling the room with the sounds and colors of another kid's show (one of the many that my wife and I find acceptable. Yes, our kids watch many shows.)  At this moment, my wife is preparing for an upcoming class she's going to teach, while holding our two-month-old.  My five-year-old is playing a game on my iPod, one I myself haven't figured out.  My three-year-old is watching the tv.  Right now, I am not parenting.  I'm close-by and ready to help, but I'm doing nothing to contribute.  I have changed several diapers this morning - prepared, served, and cleaned up breakfast for our two older children, and spent time holding our baby.  I haven't had time to change out of my pjs yet, I've chosen to utilize free moments to dash to the bathroom.  But now I'm indulging myself too write this to you, because it's important that you hear it from someone who is a dad right now.

I just opened a new magazine to read.  My favorite magazine is National Geographic, and I just tore the wrapping off of this issue - dated September 2012.  This issue came with an insert about Mauna Kea - The world's tallest mountain (32,696ft from sea floor to summit).  I need to read every word on the insert, so I'll have to keep it out and available for whenever the opportunity arises.

My middle child is rubbing her pink elephant's leg along her eyebrow.  My oldest daughter's green bear is in their light blue to-go-upstairs bin.  I try to always know where the kids loveys (comforting stuffed animals) are.  When they need them, there's zero acceptable wait time.  I know which of their blankets they prefer and their likely vicinity.  I also know where my wife's essentials are most likely to be;  the phone, her cell phone, iPad mini, the four remotes, purse, wallet, coupon holder, water glass,...etc.  Etcetera is a lot of things from my point of view.  As a dad, "etcetera" is basically every single thing in your home.  This is no exaggeration because whenever you need something, you have no time allotted to look for it, only to get it.  Get it?

For example when I go to the bathroom, I rarely close the door.  I will be needed soon, if not immediately.  Time spent closing, and opening the bathroom door is a luxury.  Plus, I'll likely be visited while I'm in there, so I might as well save my visitor the trouble of having to open the door - though they're more than happy to do so.

This is a totally acceptable normal scenario for you/me right now.  Think of it as the Good
Old Days, - or - maybe as the days when you were raising your children instead of sleeping.  As for me, I wasn't really thinking about it until I wrote this down.  And I have to say, I'm afraid I might be coming off a tad kooky.  If so, please save this piece of writing as a documentation of my former sanity.

From this perspective, raising humans in your home 24 hours a day makes raising dinosaurs seem just a little risky and possibly annoying.

Hello, these are my pet dinosaurs:  Risky and Annoying.

Hi,  These are my children:  What are your names again?