Buzz Cuts - Part 5

My wife and daughter went to a Mother-Daughter Banquet last night, so David and I got to have some great Father-Son time.

We started out by mowing grass. David fell asleep on me for about 20 minutes and then it started to rain, so we went inside for supper. David thought it would be cool if we sat on the stools and ate at the counter instead of the table, so we did. Then we tried to do some more mowing but it started raining again. We decided to just head into town and go through the drive through at Dairy Queen. When we got back home we had an awesome time building a train track and playing trains until bedtime.

As the night went on, a simple lesson kept presenting itself to me: Just take an interest in what he finds interesting.

That's pretty simple to understand, but not always that simple to do.

David likes to steer the lawn mower, but he doesn't steer in a way that allows you to mow the grass. He likes to do big circles and nearly run into things before making sharp turns to avoid disaster. But if I am willing to allow him to have some turns steering the lawn mower, he loves riding with me.

David's suggestion to sit at the counter for dinner was something he thought up all on his own. There was a part of me that thought about saying no and making him sit at the table, like normal. But, what was the harm? I said yes and he thought it was incredible that he got to make that decision all on his own.

David loves to build train tracks. I enjoy it too, but not to the same extent that he does. There comes a point when I've had enough and he could keep going all night. When that point comes, I normally sit back and just watch him play, which is fun. But he always begs me to keep playing. Last night I obliged and went back to playing. He loved it.

Taking an interest in what he finds interesting is sometimes an exercise in forcing yourself to do something that doesn't come naturally. It's not always easy and it's not always fun but it's worth it. It communicates how important David is to me and I always want him to know that I think he's special.

Right now, David's interests mostly revolve around playing trains and other toys. He's not into sports, like I want him to be. But, he's only 3 and he will eventually take an interest in those things. Even if he doesn't, I'm always going to be interested in whatever he's interested in. It's worth it!