This is one of my favorite clips from Sesame Street and I think it’s totally appropriate because Jake has become Amaya’s primary language teacher. And Amaya likes to stall anything she doesn’t want to do.
Jake is the best dad. He has really good play time energy. He knows exactly how to get Amaya excited. He understands kid humor way better than I do and he’s the fun parent (but luckily he includes me so that I won’t be the bad guy, either).
Being a parent is hard. It’s hard to tell when to push and when to give. A few weeks ago Amaya was crying that she was hungry right as we were taking her to bed and we didn’t want to give in because she wasn’t very focused at dinner time and didn’t want to eat what we gave her. She started crying, flailing and yelling about being hungry as we forced her into her room. Jake decided to grab her a piece of apple that she had started earlier and brought her some water. She desperately ate and drank in big, quiet sobbing gulps as we sat in the dark by her bed. She was so sad and so hungry the whole scene was like watching a prisoner get his crust of bread. Afterwards we talked about it and we were kind of laughing and crying at the same time. It breaks your heart to think that your kid may ever have to suffer especially when there are so many real reasons in the world for suffering.
I love raising a family with this guy. It’s weird how you don’t grasp how important these qualities are when you’re dating and even when you’re married without kids. You think, “Oh, yeah, I think he’ll make a good dad,” but that is way bigger once the kid actually shows up. You can’t even see it until it happens. Someone told me once that she didn’t realize how lucky she was until way after she was married. All the qualities that had attracted her to her spouse became much less important.She was surprised at how well it worked out that he could pull off being a father and a husband, since she didn’t even know, didn’t even fathom, he could really be that.
I get that, now. Happy Father’s Day, Jake.
1 comment:
Jake is such a great dad, such a great parent. I remember him pushing Amaya in that little stroller. always doing things for and with her. She is so super lucky to have him.
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