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Daddy Duty is written by Richard Harris, publisher of The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle.
Tree Obsessed Toddler;
Fast Forward Father
No, we already planted trees all day. Now we have to rest so we can plant more tomorrow.
"I want to plant a tree -- right now!"
No, we've already had a bath and it's time for bed.
"But Daddy, I want to plant a tree -- right now!"
It's dark outside and it's time for bed. We can't plant any more trees today. Big boys go to sleep and get rest so they're ready to plant trees again the next day.
His face finally took on a look of understanding and I was quite pleased with myself for handling a potential crisis situation so matter-of-factly.
Then as I laid him down, he sprang right back up and said, "Dig a hole -- right now!"
Well, at least he knew planting another tree wasn't an option, but he wasn't going to give up quite that easily. Maybe we could just dig another hole -- right now!
I'd like to tell you that another calm, firm, matter-of-fact directive from dear old Dad ended the conversation and he went right to sleep. But even "Bagdad Bob" couldn't pull off a lie that big with a straight face. For quite a while, between the ensuing sobs and moans, I heard "plant a tree ... dig a hole ... pat dirt ... dig a hole ... more water ... plant a tree ... right now!"
When the sun came up Sunday morning he informed me that it was time to plant trees -- right now! As I murmured about him inheriting impatience from his mother (of course it couldn't be from me), my brain raced for a way to put off his request until after church. Luckily, he also enjoys making biscuits -- believe it or not he's pretty adept at it for a someone who has to stand on a chair to reach the counter, even if he doesn't quite understand that you shouldn't just add an extra two cups of flour simply because you like using the measuring cup.
I didn't have to worry about stalling while they cooked, because they're always done by the time we get through cleaning up the mess and brushing the flour off of our clothes. Afterwards, however, I had to convince him that we needed to actually eat the biscuits first, because we'd need our strength to plant more trees.
After breakfast I got lucky again. It was time to get ready for Sunday School and he enjoys playing with his little friends at church enough that he was willing to postpone planting more trees, but only after a promise that we'd do so later in the day.
Of course after church it was time for lunch and a nap. I won't go through all the details of how "well" I handled that ... Let's just say it wasn't the longest nap he's ever had.
We finally got back to the tree planting task and the begging mercifully came to an end -- with me reminding my wife more than once of my belief that he gets his impatience from her.
He couldn't have inherited it from me. After all, I was the one patient enough to spend an entire weekend planting trees with the "assistance" of a 2-year-old, putting up with the "help" because I simply wanted to spend quality time with my son. ... At least that's what I'd like for you to believe. Actually, my wife had some important matters to attend to, so I had no choice in the matter. Still, it was quite fun, and my brain kept shifting into fast-forward as I thought of how neat it would be on his 21st birthday to look at all of the towering trees and remind him of how we planted them together when he was 2.
Over the next few days, each time I passed a window -- whether I was going to the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, etc. -- I found myself stopping and looking outside. I couldn't help resisting the urge to envision what the property would look like in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years, and the gratification that I would feel as time passed.
My wife kept noticing my stops and asked what in the world I was looking at. When I told her I was looking at the trees, she laughed and said, "I doubt they've grown very much over the last two days."
I guess patience is evidently not a virtue when you're a tree-obsessed toddler ... or a fast-forward father. Maybe he didn't get it from her after all.
