Dad Entry #18

Meggie had a good Thanksgiving. I didn’t really pay attention to anyone else. I took videos of her talking, singing, dancing, eating, saying “No Daddy,” as she turned away, annoyed – no doubt thinking get that camera outta my face – annoyed like Jennifer Aniston with paparazzi circling. Yes, I am Megan’s paparazzi. But no, Megan will never get dumped, not by a megastar like Brad Pitt, not by some pimply-faced Joe-teenager. No offense to pimply-faced boys. I was one myself. Megan’s so cute I want two-year-old Peg-pie frozen in time, captured for eternity. She’s talking more these days, expanding on old favorites like “Dit self” and “I nee dat” (which, translated, mean ‘Leave me alone, I want to do it myself’ and ‘I need that cool thing over there that someone else has right now’). Meg sings “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and her ABCs. She’s kind of a ham once she’s going, actually, which is surprising, as most of us had her ‘pegged’ (no pun intended) on the timid side of quiet. Maybe not. Though maybe I prefer timid. Timid but strong, really strong. Megan also sings an old family favorite that starts with “Bilo baby buntin’, Daddy’s gone a huntin’….”

We went to an indoor jumping gym last week. Lots of blow-up jumping areas and big slides in a high ceiling warehouse. Megan is gutsy. She couldn’t get down the slide fast enough her first time. It was a big slide, especially for Megan, maybe 10 stories for a little pint like her. At the top, Megan beamed a smile and wiggled free of the arm that had hauled her up – my arm, which was on fire with lactic acid. Once free, she scrambled for the shoot a couple feet away and – whoosh! – down. She loved it. Getting her to the top another 500 times wasn’t easy, though. We tried but she couldn’t make the climb by herself. In less than 30 minutes, at least. And the boys climbing behind her would get restless. But I didn’t care about the boys, I was thinking more like the 500 reps would turn into a paltry 50, and Megan wanted to SLIDE! So no Everest for Megan. Yet. Maybe just a skydive. Oh man, I hope I don’t have to go with her. Sara? I did my part at the gym though, scaling the rope ladder while carrying her, pulling myself up with one arm, trying to get my adult feet anchored on kid-sized ladder rungs without slipping, then falling backwards and wiping out all the little kids climbing behind me like bowling pins. I got some looks from nervous moms (including Megan and Michael’s mom). There were some other adults on the equipment, though maybe I was the biggest. Michael slid too, but, God bless him, he had to really think it over first, agonize a bit, assess the probability of grisly injury. Michael is very bright. Apprehension comes with that territory, I’m afraid. One of my favorite quotes right now, from Bertrand Russell:

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

Well said, Bertrand, though you were an atheist I think, so I don’t always agree with you.

We also went to the Minnesota Zoo. Michael was mesmerized by the marine life there, sharks, dolphins, rays, crabs, shrimp, Nemo, Dory and tons of other fish. They didn’t have any whales but the big sand tiger shark, the leopard shark pool and the dolphin show momentarily took Michael’s attention off of sperm and bowhead whales. Michael’s a big triceratops fan now, too.

**A FOOTNOTE FROM MOM
about how maybe Michael being so bright is adding some anxiety to his life. He asked me this yesterday: "Mom, are humans going to get extinct soon?"