“[Girl], don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my [girl], is to be satisfied.”
From the moment Alice
was born, this Lynyrd Skynyrd song has been on my “Ali’s List” playlist that we
listened to when going to sleep. Well, at least the Machine Gun Kelly acoustic
version of “Simple Man” from the Roadies soundtrack is on the list. We still
listen to this list and this song, and I still get a little emotional when
this lyric comes up. It really is perfect. [Full video is at the end of this post -- it's very worth the watch.]
“All that I want for you, my [girl], is to be satisfied.”
Going into a new year
is always a weird thing. It’s a weird time of self-reflection and of
goal-setting (or resolution-making, if you’re so inclined). Now, having become
a dad, I find that I’m more interested in how the year pans out for my kid than
for myself — and more importantly, want I can do to make sure it pans out the
best for her. How I can make sure Alice is satisfied.
 |
| There's a lot to be said for satisfaction. And it's an often under-rated word. It's always seen as being "just enough" -- but it's not that. It's way more. It's meeting expectations, fulfilling wishes, finding pleasure from achieving what you want/need to achieve. Don't downplay satisfaction. It's a wonderful thing. Source: Google Definition Search |
With this in mind I’ve set a couple
of daddy-goals for 2018:
Storytime — Tell
Alice more stories; stories of my life of my family, or even how the day went.
Make up stories with her as the central character. Read stories to her from
books. Just tell her more stories.
Experiences — Every
month, give Alice a new or interesting experience. [For January, we started
going on running and coffee/milkshake dates. It’s a big deal, since she hated
it when we tried the first few times].
Attention — Daily, give her
my undivided attention. No phone. No TV. Just family time. There's no prescriptive length of time here; it's just spending time with her.
Tradition — Build a
tradition that we can share. I remember my dad shouting “fightiiiing” when we
were kids, and we would bolt to where ever we heard him call from and play-wrestle on the floor. When he came home from work I would be waiting with a cricket bat, soccer ball, whatever, and he would play with me before even setting a foot inside. I want
something similar with Alice. A game, or an activity, or something, that becomes our
thing. It doesn't have to develop right away -- and I suspect that it'll change significantly as she gets older and her personality, likes and dislikes develop -- but I want to try.
Perhaps you want to
set some similar ones. Perhaps you have some better ones. Perhaps, even, you’ve
been through all this before and have some hints and tips that you can give us
newbies some guidance on. And if you do, please share them with me because I’d
love to hear them.
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