Temporarily Awesome

Yesterday afternoon, I went to give Edan a kiss goodbye, and she recoiled -- like normal -- because she wants me to "wash off" my beard. But then, as I went to set her down and walk out the door, she stopped me, pushed back my baseball cap, and gave me a little kiss on the forehead.

I like this phase.

Because we've been through crappier times -- when Edan got in the habit of asking for her mom whenever she was bored, upset, or frustrated that I wouldn't let her walk through the supermarket in bare feet with seven stuffed animals in tow. Sure, it seems innocuous -- blah blah, that's what kids do. But when you worked 'till 2 a.m the past 8,000 nights in a row (because time with your darling offspring cuts the normal workday in half), and you're exhausted, cranky, and pissed at the world, your child's incessant requests to be with another parent make your life feel -- for a moment -- like some cruel and pointless comedy, where you're the butt of every joke. (Of course then Edan laughs, or says something hysterical, and I, like many fabled fathers before me, am on a heroic quest through dad-dom once again.)

Continued at ParentDish.