my world, my true

Today was a happy day. This morning, the kids & I left the house early and were able to drop Tarrell off at work (he typically walks). On the short drive to his office, Knox asked for a song that Tarrell had made up for him a few weeks ago. So, we sang the song loudly from the front seats & Knox giggled with delight from the back.

When we arrived at the office, instead of kicking the seat and protesting in high-pitched squeals like he normally does, Knox pleasantly said, “bye bye, Daddy. I wuv you!” as Tarrell closed the car door to leave us. I wanted to reward Knox for displaying such distinguished behavior and found my opportunity minutes later when he requested to hear the song we had been singing. He wanted to “hear it in da car” (which is means he wants it played on the speakers, as opposed to having it sung by me). Since the song was a Tarrell original, there would be no searching YouTube on my iPhone to play it for him. So, I decided to call Tarrell & let him know he had a special request from his biggest fan. I plugged the phone into the adapter & without hesitation, Tarrell began to sing loudly,

There’s a dinosaur at the beach and everybody knows.

There’s a dinosaur at the beach & everybody knows…

That he’s gonna eat your toes when you go!

Today was of those days when I realized how very blessed my children and I really are. As I listened to his sweet voice resounding from my car speakers, happy and without reservation, I had a brief feeling of deja vu as I remembered the numerous times I had daydreamed of my future husband, the would-be father of my children, doing things just like this.

My college room mate, Mary & I used to “test” potential love interests by playing a sort-of game with them called “Is He a Good Dad?” The test is hard to describe in writing, but basically we would do a very odd dance move we invented and ask the guy to imitate us. This game stemmed from our idea that good parents play along with their children’s shenanigans no matter how ridiculous they may look doing so. So, if the guy imitated our crazy moves, he received the “good dad” seal of approval. You have no idea how many guys we confused (and probably scared away) by performing this test, but you would also be surprised to find out that there were very few who passed.

Today, the man I chose to marry (who passed this test years ago), sat at a desk in front of a computer, in a thinly walled room adjacent to his co-workers and sang out to his son because there’s nothing more important to him than seeing Knox happy, or than giving Knox the security and fulfillment that comes with having a Dad who listens to you and compromises himself for your sake. And Tarrell didn’t even think twice about it. It just came naturally to him. Just a small thing, a tiny moment that I will cherish forever, one that made Knox’s day…and ultimately has made my life.