Being led by Mr. Soft Pants.

I no longer have to pay attention when I’m driving. Boy tells me to stop when the light is red. My mind is then free to wander and ponder the cloud formations until the Boy shrieks with impatience at the first glimpse of green. I turn when he says’ “turn Daddy” or go this way when he says’ “this way Daddy”. I never actually get where I’m going anymore but I don’t have to think either and that’s a better reward. It’s also nice to see how much he is becoming like his Mommy (my Beautiful Bride) with all his backseat driving.

The boy won’t wear any pants but sweat pants. He calls them soft pants. We used to only have two pairs and one of them was too short. It was WAR on the days that they were in the wash. The jeans, khakis and cargos (aka hard pants) simply will not do. The good news is he is much more independent with the potty when he wears the soft pants. I went to Old Navy and got him eight pairs with pockets. He is Mr. Softpotty Casual now.

It’s all O.K.

I picked Boy up the other day and his hard pants were wet. I said, “Did you wet your pants?” He said, “YEAH! It’s OK Daddy!”

Boy knows that the remote control is verboten. One morning I found the remote in twenty pieces all over the living room floor. I gave the Boy a hard stare, “Did you break Daddy’s remote?” I queried. “YEAH! It’s OK Daddy!” he tossed off.

I am wing man.

We go to the Airport and watch the planes take off and land. We applaud each successful take off and guide each landing with a chant of “steady, steady, steady” until it touches the ground.

The other day there was a little girl that was the same age as the Boy. She had a toy airplane and was waving it around to mimic the movements of the real ones. She was hanging her arms over the fence that I never let the Boy hang on. When he noticed her it was like an electric shock over took him. He instantly grabbed my hand and dragged me to within five feet of her. He planted me off to the side, pulled his soft pants up (no kidding) and sauntered over to her. When he got close to her he made sure he got a little too close so that she couldn’t help but notice him. He stuck his neck out in her space, smiled and said “I a big boy!” The poor little girl was overwhelmed and ran to her Daddy. Boy looked back at me and shrugged his shoulders “It’s OK Daddy!”

And me too.

When we decorated our Christmas tree, BB and I pointed out all the ornaments that meant something to us. “This is from the first Christmas Mommy and Daddy were Married” BB glowed. “And me too.” Boy glowed back. “This was before you, when it was just Daddy and I.” “And me too.” “Just Daddy and Mommy!” “Daddy, Mommy and me too.”

I drove with Boy past our old apartment and stopped to take in all the old memories as they came flooding back. “This is where Mommy and Daddy lived before you were born. We used to swim in that pool and laugh at the crazy lady who lived across from us. I climbed up that tree when I was locked out once and Mommy almost killed me with a baseball bat.” I explained. “And me too.” He explained further. “This was before you were born”, I taught him. “Yeah. Before Mommy, Daddy and me were born”, he lectured me.

I’ve since inserted the Boy into all my memories. Now there truly never was a time without him. He was around when I was in kindergarten and was crushing on Rose. He told me to kick Sr Phyllis on her heiny. He held my hand when Grandma died and said "it's o.k. Daddy." He gave me the courage to leave my job as a bartender in New York City and take a chance and move to Los Angeles. He showed me my dreams were possible. He stood with me on my Wedding Day and we smiled as the most beautiful girl in the world said "I Do." He winked at me when he was born. Things I'll never forget