Unfinished Dad

Butterflies At Brookside Gardens

If you need something to do this summer that will amaze you and your children alike, check out Wings of Fancy butterfly exhibit at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton.

Remember 22 month old child, no touching the exotic, brightly colored, haphazardly flying insects!

This is me nonchalantly turning away from you, pretty butterfly.

Hmm...I think this pipevine swallowtail's probiscis is injured.

I Mean It. Not Even Once!

The next thing you know, you'll be in the middle of a tea party watching your daughter get her toenails painted "zippy pink"... 

...and them some boy will be knocking on the door talking about eternal love and his 1992 Camaro, which by the way came out when you were a sophomore high school.

Don't Blink

Most of the things that my kids do to surprise me fall under the sudden violence or sudden bodily excretion categories. Yesterday, though, Annie did something that flipped me upside down and shook me around a bit. She balked at finishing her dinner last night, and when I told her she would lose one of her pacifiers if she didn't continue, she told me, "I don't want my Bobs anymore. I think I'll throw them out."

A few seconds after she climbed the stairs to her room I heard her open the garbage can. She was back in her seat soon after. When she told me she was done eating I had no recourse save for shocked acceptance. She went to bed later and barely gave her old life, or her bobs, a mention.

In accordance with child rearing law, the Bob Fairy came in the middle of the night and brought her her first bike.

Take The Bad With The Good

The next time you find yourself telling acquaintances how brilliant or "ahead of the curve" your child is, remember that you are talking about the same kid who pulled poop out of her diaper during lunch and continues to use her spoon in a convex rather than concave manner. I'm not saying your child isn't awesome, they all are, but it might do you some good to take the bad with the good; you'll end up enjoying the good that much more.