About a year or so ago, I wrote a letter to my daughter (you can read it here)…time for one to my son.
Our son Dexter turns 5 on Monday…it’s crazy…5….5? 5!! 5??!!?!?! When the heck did this happen? Parents with older kids always tell you that “it goes by so quick”…and during the first 18 months, when you’re up all hours of the night, and you’re hallucinating due to lack of sleep, you curse those parents and are convinced they are wrong…then all of a sudden, boom…he’s 5.
He’s 5?!
I’m so darn proud of him…words can’t describe it.
He amazes and astounds me everyday…he’s so smart…he’s so funny…and he’s so sweet. When you ask him something, he says “no thank you” or “Yes please”…he worries about other people…and he’s super proud to be his sister’s big brother. His creativity blows me away.
He’s going to be like me (sorry to my wife)…when he starts to like something, he jumps all-in. Ninjago? Every episode..Same with Lego Chima…Clone Wars…love it. For a while it was “My Little Pony”, but he told me that that was because a girl at school liked it. Great, he’s going to be a hopeless romantic sap like his dad as well.
Right now…and for a long while I assume…it’s Star Wars.
I love his “pestering” requests of “Dad, can we battle now”? Which means, hey dad, I just built the biggest Lego ship I could dream of…oh, and I made you one that comprises about 5 rinky-dink pieces, now let’s have them battle it out. I’ve never won…I’ll never win…I happily accept my winless record.
His new thing is “dude”…when I pick him up from school, I say “Hey Dexter”…he replies with “Hey dude”. It’s a daily highlight.
As all parents of a 4-6 year old will tell you…the things that their kid says during that time frame is absolute hilarity. Things from months past are brought up out of the blue…”Hey dad, remember that time we saw the moose in Colorado?” “Hey dad, remember when you told me that the moon was made out of cheese…it’s not.”
He gives me segment ideas for the morning show….”Hey dad, you and Colleen should talk about how asteroids are meteors, and are made of rocks.” (That’s what he wants us to talk about this week…our daughter Priscilla just wants Ken to come back from vacation…she tells me that 3 times a day at least “When’s Ken coming back?”)
As excited as I am for his future and everything that awaits him…with every passing day, I feel sadness…sadness that every day gone is another day closer to him growing more independent, and soon enough, he’ll just want to be hanging with his friends, and I’ll just be “dad”…not “the greatest things in the Earth, ‘Dad'”.
Whether it be he’s playing sports…or on the Math team…or whatever he wants to do…I’m going to be the dad that’s always in the crowd…probably embarrassing you. I apologize in advance…but it’s your own fault Dexter…you’ve caused me to be this proud of you. Oh, there will be personalized t-shirts…and puff paint on the minivan windows.
Dexter…your mom, your wonderful little sister, and your dad are all super proud of you…and love you very much.
You’re my little buddy…and always will be. (when I get you from school today, it’s “Daddy/Dexter Super Secret Handshake” time.
