Can I just brag for a second?  I have two children and I love all there is to love about them. I love the sarcasm that slips from Amelia every once in a while and her zest for what’s right and just plain passion.  I love Jack’s smile, the way he shoots a basketball and his curly hair that sticks up all over.  That being said, they can drive me flat out berserk.  Every once in a while, when you think all hope is lost, you get a homework assignment back from the teacher that reads like the one below.  It is from Jack and for a kid that plays hard and does God knows what on that xbox, I wanted to share it.  I wanted it to be out there forever in cyberspace so that one day, maybe, his children would find it and read it and think, “what the heck Dad, Really? That’s you?”

Where I Am From

I am from the warm soft carpets that cover the hard freezing cold floors in the back of Mrs.Crows’s classroom. Where I made my first friends with the other kids in the grade. Taking long quiet naps in our tiny sleeping bags. The only thing that could us crazy kids to sleep was the song somewhere over the rainbow with the artists mesmerizing voice putting us into a deep sleep. Dreaming of big bad monsters invading the town, being slayed by the all mighty Jack.

I am from the cold waters in Skaneateles Lake. That hit the rocky shores all night and day long. Where the zebra mussels wait on the bottom of the lake for their next victim to cut their feet with their sharp edges. Laying on the rough dock with a soft blanket covering the hard surface. As you eat the best food in the world from Doug’s Fish Fry in the village where all the lights are on and everything is lit up like the fourth of July even at night.

I am from Clifton Park. Where I have the most memories of my friends, family, and childhood buried deep inside my old house. Trying to act like a responsible adult in the hot tub. While on the inside, I am crying from the steaming water burning my little legs and arms. Where I used to play with my two best friends, Nikki and Sukki (my two old teacup poodles). Where I used to play dress up with my older sister all day long when she got home from school (I didn’t care that it was girly).

And finally, I am from our old huge pool. Where I used to have birthday parties and family come and stay with us for the whole day for hamburgers and hot-dogs cooked on the grill.

Maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  Maybe some things we say as parents and the experiences we have with our kids actually stick. I am going to add one to the win column tonight.