Dad Entry #72

The kids are obsessed with dogs right now. We made it clear they're not getting one. But Grandma and Papa bought a little girl from the litter below. Little girls are sweet. Mine is. So dogs are the rage right now, slightly ahead of Pokemon cards on the attention/mention scale. I told the kids, “Grandma and Papa aren’t sure which baby girl they’ll get, they get third pick of the litter, but they’re going to name her Annabelle, kind of after Belle, and they’ll call her Anna.” Megan liked that. She did NOT, however, like it when I said they won’t get Anna for another month or so. She asked, “A month? How many minutes is that, Daddy? How many minutes until Grandma and Papa get a new puppy?” I told her, “That’s a lot of minutes, Honey. Anna is too little to come home with them now, she still needs her mommy.” We're all very eager to meet Annabelle.



This morning, Megan didn’t want any of her 25 breakfast choices. Yogurt, oatmeal, waffle, bagel, granola bar, PB toast, cinnamon toast, 8 cereal choices, fresh berries, apples, bananas, melon, dried fruit, etc. And any combination thereof? "No, I'm tired of those things," Megan said. And I thought, Seriously? Struggling with the monotony of repetition already? You’re four years old! Disappointed by the limited choices provided by the American standard of living? The modern grocery super-store? The Earth? Fruit picked in the other hemisphere that’s still fresh when I cut it open and serve it to you? Time for a chat about abundance and gratitude. Although, at 34 I see her point. I’ve eaten those things thousands of times; I’m tired of them too.

Sara said Megan spiked a 104.9 degree fever a few nights ago. I know kids can go higher than adults. Without frying their brains. But 104.9 made me wonder if her head steamed, if the sweat on her forehead evaporated in visible wisps. I think a temp over 106 or 107 is when you start the ice bath. Whatever, she was totally fine the next day.

Megan has glommed onto 'battery acid' as a cause for all kinds of issues, glitches, malfunctions around the house. I asked her where she first heard about it and she said, "Mommy found some in Michael’s car toy.” Sure, a battery went bad and leaked. It happens. But now if a cell phone acts up or the TV remote responds slowly or a light bulb burns out, Megan says, "Maybe it's battery acid." Michael finally got tired of it and told her, “Just because you're so smart about battery acid, doesn't mean that's what happened to everything.” I agree.