Alex dives in to the deep end…oh my…this is not good. I don’t mean in the sense that he has left the safety of the perch in 4 ft of water next to me…launched himself away from the safety of my reach…and is now quickly sinking below the surface of the pool. This I think I can deal with…and after the 3rd or 4th spring board away from me…and pulling him back above the surface smiling and chortling (even as he spits and coughs up water), I appreciate that this thing he is doing is an essential part of him. I am reticent because this 2 year-old-leap-before-you-look approach is…well…stressful, and not particularly reassuring, lol. Perhaps it’s just a little boy thing…but I suspect its really more part of his natural genetic makeup…and I can see the constant struggle of a father’s lifetime ahead of me balancing the need to nurture, tame, break and celebrate this quality in my son. Yes, it is likely that this is the same struggle that every father has with their son…but this brings little comfort as Alex sinks in the water and thrashes to find the surface, and I rescue him for the um-tee-nth time…because it’s already absolutely exhausting and frustrating, ha ha ha.
“You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” – Franklin P. Jones
About Lawrence Lewis
I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂