Dad Entry #13

Meggie practiced a valuable skill yesterday. All day long. She put her shoes on, then took them off. On, off, on, off. Her patent leather shoes, too. Fancy. It’s good practice for a woman, I guess. They buy a greater variety of shoes than most men (excluding Papa Mike, for example, and cross-dressers). Yes, women wear shoes with lots of different straps, buckles, snaps, heels, ties, laces, etc. And velcro. Velcro is an option if you’re a two-year-old chick. Or, probably, if you’re really stylish or eccentric. Meggie’s shiny shoes have velcro straps, which she mastered in a day. Good job, Megs! You’re learning the important things, Sweetheart! I will take care of you until you’re 40 anyway. Then your husband can start helping a little. Maybe. Just kidding, calm down all you feminists. Actually, I heard a minister talking about how God is as much woman as man, how women are not to be submissive; they are equal (funny, now I hear all you women saying, “Only equal? Ha! We’re better!”). This minister admitted his thinking was most definitely influenced by having a daughter. He said, “Nothing turns a good man into a raging feminist faster than having a daughter!” Very true. My daughter will NOT be submissive to anyone (the Bible only hints at that because it’s culturally conditioned). The Big Man in the New Testament was radically inclusive when it came to women, despite that being very contrary – offensively so, in fact - to the cultural norms of the day. Actions speak louder than words. Anyway, Meggie will have every opportunity. She can be the first woman President if Hillary doesn’t beat her to it. First NFL quarterback, first Cy Young winner, the real ‘G.I. Jane’ (first female Navy SEAL; and Megan’s more beautiful than Demi Moore), whatever. Actually, no military or football; she might get hurt. And Major League pitchers are often injured by shots hit back up the middle. So that’s unacceptable. But first woman to beat Tiger Woods works, or first person – man or woman - on Mars (although I’ll have to inform NASA that simple redundant designs won’t do on Megan’s spacecraft; we’ll need multi-redundant systems in place – can we do multi-multi-redundant, please? - to guarantee her safe return). Man, I do have more sympathy now for Danica Patrick’s parents. My parents got to know them a little through Bobby Rahal, and I had breakfast with them at a race once, too. I showed Bev Patrick a picture of Megan and she ooh-ed and ahh-ed over how cute Meg-Pie is. There are a significant amount of fatalities in racing, Indy-style racing in particular. Sorry, Megan. No way.

And for the record, in support of feminism: Michael is four and still needs help with shoes that aren’t flip-flops or slip-ons like Crocs.

I got home from a softball game recently just before bedtime (bedtime for the kids, I mean). Michael, already in his PJs, greeted me at the door and noticed it was dusk. He asked me, “Hey Daddy, can I come outside and see the darkness?” Michael goes to bed all summer before sundown. Being outside at night – aka seeing ‘the darkness’ – is pretty novel to him, at least in early fall, when it’s been months since the short days of his last winter. Four-year-olds haven’t experienced that many seasonal transitions. The seasons and changes are pretty awesome. One reason to stay in the Midwest. Maybe the only reason. So Michael and I walked around the yard just after dusk. We looked at the moon, some bright stars, looked at airplane lights as they approached O’Hare. We enjoyed some deep breaths of crisp, night air. He commented on the American flag and sign at our neighborhood entrance which appeared to glow in the spotlights. Michael was sort of in a state of wonderment. Call me crazy but it was a powerful moment for me. We take a lot of simple – but still cool – things for granted. Sunrise, sunset, the night sky, changing temperatures, fresh air, cool grass on bare feet (Michael enjoyed that, too).