A daughter day...

Today is my day off. I spent some time this morning with my daughters wrestling, reading and writing. That's right, writing. I decided I would hoist the laptop up onto my lap and let them make up stories while I type them out. It was awesome. They each made up about three stories, but one story they combined efforts and wrote about Chicken Little. I thought I would let you in on the rough draft before we send it off for printing and binding...

The Story of Chicken Little (as told by Kami and Aly)

"Once upon a time there was a little chicken name chicken little. (I love that!) His dad said, “Son, I’m going to scream like a little girl in two minutes!” They had a little house and him’s (Aly talk's like Smeagol at times) friends waked up and they were doing a dance and he loved it. His dad thought that it wasn’t real, but it was…they really were Indians or whatever they’re called. They liked a little thing called an Alien and they were scared. He didn’t know that he had a friend behind him. Him’s dad didn’t know, but in the end he did know and they hugged. The dad, at the end, was really nice and believed him and hugged him. Chicken little kissed a girl and she was jumping around like crazy and she didn’t know that the Aliens were still there. But then they knew why and they killed them. The End."

I would read back to them what they wrote and we would just laugh and laugh together. It was an awesome moment with my daughters. I want to teach them to be creative...to dream. After I made them some lunch, they went down for a nap and I decided to write about the morning. So here's a taste...

Little girls

My lap is warm with little girls
Perched upon my knee,
Leaning toward the book in hand
Poised with playful glee.

Listening to every word
Coming from the page,
Dreaming just like girls would
At that delightful age.

As I look into their eyes
Sparkling with laughter,
I can’t help but wonder what
My heart is truly after.

What is really worth my time
when all is said and done?
After all my victories
What will I have won?

Sitting here with little girls
Makes you double take,
Asking what is really true
And what’s a huge mistake.

Am I really making much
Of things that mean so little?
Spending time achieving but
Forgetting how to giggle.

So sitting here upon this couch
I’m going to rearrange
All the things I’ve lost with time
That really need to change.

Back into the things they were
When I was just a lad
Sitting in my living room
Reading with my dad.

I love being a father almost as much as I love being a husband. My daughters teach me so much. They uncover so much that has been buried under the debris of adulthood. I owe them so much for resurrecting my jaded heart.

"In about a minute I'm going to scream like a little girl." - The Dad in Chicken little