The Joy of Parenting

Athena was in a holiday show today at her daycare. She was also in it last year, but at six-months old, all she did was appear on a "sleigh" (stroller built for six) with little reindeer antlers on her head. Was it cute? Absolutely. Did it satisfy her star-struck mother. Absolutely not.

So this year, they told us Athena's class would be singing. Now, considering Athena's vocabulary--although impressive--is quite limited, I was looking forward to seeing how she would approach singing with her classmates. Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, they opted for the far more realistic plan of dressing the tots as snowmen and parading them out onto the stage. And this would have been great for yours truly... however, Athena immediately burst into tears once on stage.

I did not jump up to comfort her... I let her have her say. And sure enough... once the applause started, she was delighted to be on stage. She smiled... she looked around... and if the precedent had been set at any time in her life, I'm sure she would have taken a bow. They had a little paper hat on her, a little red scarf, and a snowman cutout was tied around her neck and hanging down her front. We took pictures, but I have misplaced the USB cord, so I shall have to post them later.

After their stellar performance, the toddlers went back to their classroom for milk and cookies. Green cookies, to be precise. Athena enjoyed one and a half of them, giving her teeth a nice green tint. We hung out in her classroom for a little while and then we asked Kathryn, John, and Aiden to join us for dinner. Kathryn works at a different branch of the library, and her son Aiden is almost exactly three months older than Athena. By a fortunate coincidence, we chose the same daycare. So we have gotten them together for several playdates, and we thought it would be fun if we all went out to dinner.

It was fun. We kept the two kids at opposite ends of the table just to keep their minds on food. After dinner, they ran around outside just a little bit, and then we went our separate ways. But not before Athena gave Aiden a big smooch. This is the first time I've seen my daughter kiss another child, and it was terribly cute.

So overall, I would sum up today's events as delightful. This is the reason people become parents... the joy of watching your little girl play, discover, and make friends.