The other day my daughter was getting fussy, and I had a couple errands to run so I locked her up in her stroller and we left the house. Taking her along on missions has its positives and negatives. She gets overwhelmed by the outside world enough to calm her of whatever angst has her upset, but the outside world is also more likely to upset me.
I’m generally pretty calm, but bad drivers bring out the overprotective gene handed down from my cavemen forefathers. When a taxi ran a stop sign and came a few feet from running us over I was lucky not to have had a quicker draw. Otherwise we would have one less baby bottle and the taxi would have one less window.
But I took a deep breath and reminded myself people are generally good. I know that’s not true, but it’s a nice lie to believe. I continued to the bank and waited for my turn at the ATM. An employee of the bank fell in love with my daughter and was making goo goo sounds to her. She was asking me a ton of questions. What’s her name? How old is she? What’s your PIN number?
After I had my money in hand she told me to enjoy this time because they grow up so fast.
“You know, everyone tells me that, but I got to tell you that’s a big lie. Time slows down with a kid. She’s not even four months old and I don’t remember my life without her.”
“Now hold on Mister, I got a two year old and it seems like just yesterday I was pregnant. But you know what, she has been two years old for a long time.”
“Right? I remember at the hospital a nurse told me you blink and all of a sudden your baby’s 18.”
“Well, that nurse must have no eyelids.”
I bid the lady a fond farewell. As I walked us back I told my daughter, “Now, when Mommy asks what we accomplished today, you can tell her Daddy stopped one person from spouting a mindless cliche.”
Starring Pablo Chiste 