Being the fun young dad I was
When any plan – an outing, a movie, a special treat – made
our kids so excited
Being welcomed home from work by kids running to the door to
greet me
Pillow fights
“Cover-up,” when I’d cover one of our sick kids in blankets
and stuffed animals when we were home sick
Stuffed animals
Bedtime stories
“Book Night,” when I’d read a stack of books and our kids
always wanted just one more read to them
Going to the library
Knowing that each night, all of us were home together
Sleep-overs in our kids’ bedrooms
Not having to compete with homework, schedules,
outside-the-house plans
Singing “Feed the Birds” to our kids at bedtime
Blogging and in other ways recording our young family’s
happenings
Going through so many new stages for each kid, four times in
a row
Planning our kids’ Halloween costumes
Trick-or-treating as a family
Surprising my family by coming home for lunch
Playing basketball on Joshua’s hoop
Building Legos with my kids, especially Isaac
German lessons with Amelia
Caroline’s “love-sick” phase
Watching cartoons at my office
Neighborhood walks and bike rides
Building a snowman
Working with Play-Doh
Easily agreeing on a family movie, like “The Secret Garden”
Painting on six canvases on our back deck
Drawing with my kids
Introducing my kids to shows and songs from my childhood
Rafi’s “Snows are Falling on Douglas Mountain”
Bath-time and bubble baths
Being my kids’ hero, and – selfishly – a center of their
little world
Seeing mom bask in so many creative projects for our little
kids