Happy Birthday

These days just go by so quickly. Yesterday marked the 5th anniversary of my daughter's birth. 5 years ago we had been in the hospital welcoming her into the world. Now, 5 years later I start a new tradition- taking the day off of work to spend with the birthday child. So the day went like so:

We started out by taking her to the last day of Vacation Bible School at church. I thought that it might make some kind of difference to her having me there but it didn't really. I should have taken my laptop along and worked more on my book. [The Unauthorized & Incomplete Autobiography Of Rage Perry, set to be finished sometime in the future]. 

When VBS was over then it was time for the birthday girl to pick the destination for our noonly feeding. I figured that the choice would be Culvers. She surprised us by picking McDonalds. Bear in mind that we pretty much gave her the choice of anywhere in town. So off to McDonalds we went to stuff our faces.

After we were done eating it was then time for my wife and son to go sleep in the van while I continued to sit in the booth fighting the Sandman and watching the girl run around in the play area and periodically call out my name and wave to me. It was kind of nice to feel like she still needed me for something, but when she was done playing I was only good for carrying our drinks  back out to the van. I sooooo wanted a nap, but that's the story of my life. 

From Mickey D's we proceeded to the theatre where we all nustled our bums into the chairs and prepared to be amazed by Kung Fu Panda. Both of my kids really liked it and so did I. You can take the guy out of martial arts but you just can't ever fully take the martial arts out of him. I have always also been a fan of some of the Confusian thought that comes from the far east. The whole "less is more and more is less" kind of thought. 

Shortly after we got back home my wife's mom, aunt and uncle came over for dinner before they had to head on to some school reunion activity. It is always good to see that clan. They brought with them gifts for my daughter and food. 

My daughter was excited for many of her presents. Barbies, movies, clothes. She actually asked for some Caroll Burnett videos....and she got them.

Food, cake, movies and more movies, company, a miriad of phone calls...it made for a busy day.

It is hard to imagine life without kids. I spent more of my life not having kids but now it is hard to be where I am and imagine not having any. They add another dimension to life. Like today....

Today my daughter successfully did a pretty long bike ride....without the training wheels. She was peddling and riding all by herself, stopping when she should, avoiding parked cars, she was a pro. I need to go ride with her a little later today so that she can get a little more practice.

Right now she has a friend over to the house who lives a block away. The girl is polite and they have been playing well together but I can't help but wonder what her home life is like. Do her parents ever wonder where she is? Do they feed her often? How concerned are they for her overall well being? It is just hard to know any more the parental involvement out there. Many parents are just in it because they forgot to use contraception. I hate that for the kids and I hate to assume the role of neighborhood babysitter; but if the only safe place is my place then I guess I feel a certain moral obligation. All I know is that they seem to be getting along well and my daughter has needed some other kids to be able to play with. 

I am happy because she is happy. That's all a daddy ultimately wants for his little girl.