Daddy-ing Year One, A Review of the Ups

Recently, I got into reading dad blogs. For the first time ever, I'm currently subscribed to a good handful of blogs written by people I don't know. It's a little strange... reading about people I've never met. It feels a little stalker-ish, but at the same time there's a sense of familiarity. There's a feeling that we share some common set of experiences and often I laugh and feel comforted because of that.

And now, I feel inspired to write again. So here's a start to the resurrection of this blog!

It's June, mid-June to be exact. It's graduation season. And that means that Alinna's school year, her work year is wrapping up. This also means that my first school year as a stay-at-home dad is also coming to a close. Since I haven't been doing a great job keeping everybody up to date with the exploits of Sam-and-Dad on this blog, a top 10 list is probably in order.

So here it is. THE TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS OF BEING SAHD (that's Stay-At-Home Dad for those not in the SAHD loop) 2008-2009
10. Hearing him say "da-da" before he said "ma-ma". I know it's immature of me to feel this way and way more immature for me to publish it, but it is what it is.
9. Finding and screening kids' music CDs for free at the local library. Favorites that we both agree to so far include Jack Johnson's Curious George, the Fraggle Rock album, the Muppet Show album, the Sesame Street album (can you tell I'm a Jim Henson fan?). By the way, I'm currently looking for a library copy of an album from Schoolhouse Rock.
8. Daddy-duckling days. That's what we call days when Sam decides first thing in the morning that he wants to follow me and do whatever I'm doing.
7. Seeing Alinna light up when we discover that it's a mommy-duckling day.
6. Seeing Sam light up when he first sees Alinna come home from work.
5. Praying boldly with Sam right before he goes to bed. I'm finding that I pray more directly and with greater expectation when I pray with Sam... probably because I want him to pray that way and wish I prayed more that way.
4. Getting to meet interesting people because of Sam. Case in point, Sam and I visit the Peet's in Cupertino at least twice a week. Usually, we see a guy named Yosef there. He's an African American man, probably in his 50s, with a dyed, cropped mohawk, who's always studying Mandarin Chinese. You can't make this stuff up. We get to talk with him about all sorts of things because when Sam sees him, he walks up to him to smile and wave hello.
3. The rare occasion when he'll stop moving, come into my arms, hug me, and lay his head on my shoulder.
2. Finding ways to make him laugh. Playing wrestlemania is a current favorite.
1. Being able to teach him things and skills I value that I think are age appropriate: Frequenting the same businesses and locales, throwing away garbage we see even if it's not our garbage, having a healthy excitement about exploring, waving at nice people, hugging friends, and simply being friendly.