Cris-Cross, Apple Sauce

April 5, 2025

I'm a father of two - a $ year old girl and a boy that is a year and a half. A few nights ago, my daughter and me are in her bed getting ready to read, as we do every night. We're both facing each other, sitting "cris-cross apple sauce" and she shows me a scrape on her foot. My palm meets the sole of her foot and I pause.

A rush of energy filled me up. I felt something in my chest as her foot laid in my palm, almost perfectly placed and fitted. CONNECTION.

In an instant, I felt something with her I've never felt. She and I have a great bond, but this was different. Her smooth, cold foot. Like freshly laid marble had so much feeling with it. I sat, rubbing her foot, smiling with tears welled in my eyes.

That is what parenting does - it softens us. It creates these random, special yet unforgettable moments. Ones we miss if we aren't present. If we're too busy or rush through the day or tasks with our kids. If we're distracted by work, money woes or the pressures of the affair we find ourselves in with someone outside your home. If a tree falls in a forest, but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you are there with your kids but are not fully present with them, did any of the beautiful moments actually happen?

I read once that love is spelled T-I-M-E. That is how you demonstrate love. To a child. A person. To your work. To & craft. You give it T-I-M-E. When it comes to my children, your children, there is no better way to use our time than with presence. There is no greater investment. There is simply nothing better than that.