My Boy

Little Lion did not eat well last night. In fact he didn't eat well this morning either! Anyway, it was a struggle to get him to finish his Frito Pie last night! Little Pumpkin & I, both being good eaters, had already gone outside to play, letting Blake finish in silence. Not to worry, I check in on him from time to time.

Back to the story. Little Lion ended up not finishing, which always means no dessert (snacks, treats, goodies, gumballs, etc.) , but is always O.K. as he normally always eats something, if not everything. We know he's really not hungry when he's ok with not eating the rest of his food and missing out on goodies!

Little Pumpkin & I, on the other hand, were enjoying a lovely, if not slightly cool evening outside, eating a popsicle together on the tailgate of the truck in the driveway. FYI This might be Little Pumpkin's new favorite place, activity. Little Lion put his plate away as instructed and came to see us, quietly muttering "I wish I had a popsicle" under his breath.

I explained to him that he didn't eat all his dinner, and so he couldn't have a popsicle. He was O.K. with that, but still wanted it known that a popsicle would "be really good right about now". He quietly climbed up my trucks' wheels, over the side of the bed, and stood right behind us, just watching every bite that Little Pumpkin took. A pathetic sight to say the least, but he was managing his consequences well.

There are times when a dad just has do what a dad just has to do! Little Pumpkin got a bite and I handed my bite to Little Lion. He looked at me, asked if he could have some and then took a modest bite, handing it immediately back. It was just after he swallowed that my often poor excuse for fatherhood was validated.

"Daddy, you just showed me grace!" Little Lion proclaimed. Not to make you think that my child is a genius, this is something that Mommy Lion & I work on regularly with him. It's the foundations of his and our faith, an often intangible concept that we attempt to recognize and deliberately portray in significant ways.

As a test, I asked Little Lion "what grace meant". He gave us the stock answer . . . "grace is getting something you don't deserve."

Some days I feel that way about getting to be his daddy.