It just doesn’t get any better than this!
My kids are getting older and I have to admit, I’m hanging on to their childhood almost as if my life depended on it. I know, I know. I need to let them grow up. That’s what everyone says, but is it just me, or are kids growing up too fast these days?
If, by growing up you mean that I should encourage my 10 year old boy not to insist that I am his best friend, the coolest daddy (yes, he still calls me daddy), and his number one pick as a person to just hang out with, then I guess I will be counter-cultural on this one. And maybe I will be a bit naive’ for just a little bit longer because I still enjoy the insisting by my 8 year old daughter that I hug her every time I walk out the door—even if I’m only getting something out of the car. I still feel a warmth in my heart every time I complain about an ache or a pain and make a joke about getting older only to hear her protest that, You are NOT OLD daddy!
Thanks Juliana! I agree, and I can prove it.
So, when my 
wife, Michelle insisted we play a few of the “shower games†with some of the left over stuff from a baby shower she gave—just for laughs—I was all for it. My daughter made hats we all had to wear and we raced to see who could drink the baby bottle apple juice the fastest. Mine was rigged (probably by my 10 year old). It didn’t even work!
Did we look silly? No. We looked ridiculous! But listening to my kids laugh hysterically and seeing my wife smile because we are such a tight family, makes me willing to wear any goofy hat you throw my way, drink from a baby bottle, and whatever else we deem “inappropriate for mature adults,†as long as we stay that way.
I know things will change. I have to let them grow up. But I’m starting to realize that they really can grow older and we as a family can keep right on getting closer at the same time.
By the way…notice how Nathan is not in the baby bottle picture? Yep, you guessed it. Too cool for the bottle drinking contest. So I guess some of that “growing up,†is getting by me no matter what. That’s okay. You pick your battles.
God is so good to us.
When was the last time you really stopped and told your family how much you love and appreciate them?
Why not do it right now?