I walked into my bedroom the other day and saw my three year old son going through a technical book I was reading. He often picks up my books, but never pays much attention, so his look of determination made me wonder what he was doing. As I got closer I realized that he was unfolding the bent corners of all of the pages I had 'dog-eared' to reference later.
He looked up sweetly and said "Dad, I fixed your book!". I couldn't help but say "thank you!".
That experience was just one of the tiny treasures of being a parent. It might not be significant in the grand scope of life, but it's just one thing I love about him.
I thought of everything else that I love about him; how every day he makes me laugh at something or expresses a new piece of his personality. I realized that years from now I may forget some of these tiny idiosyncrasies, even though they're important to how I know him and our interactions. It dawned on me that I really do find something new and amazing about him every day, so why not keep track? That's when I came up with the concept of the 365 Things Project.
The Project basically entails keeping a daily log of one trait or interaction with your child that is special or unique. It's a journal of 365 things you love about your kids. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of everything and make sure I'm up to date. I add a new line every day, usually in the form of sentence beginning with "I love that..." or "You made me laugh when..." There will be days when you're frustrated and want to kill them, but this will help you to see the positive side of things.
I strongly encourage every other parent out there to try it. At the end of 365 days you'll have a funny keep sake of all the wonderful little experiences you've had with your kids over the course of the year. I'm looking forward to reflecting on my son's hobby of flattening folded pages, his love of the color yellow and his tendency to smack the TV when 'bad' characters come on.
11 comments:
Your three year old son is very impressive! He is a kind of good and smart guy like dad... Anyway, You are a blessed dad!
Great idea, and thanks for sharing the story about the book corners. It's amazing how an otherwise irritating act can be so endearing when performed by a three year-old.
@Getting Pregnant - Thanks very much! I am indeed very lucky!
@Stadium - He's such a cute little dude, he makes everything endearing. He could probably punch me in the face and I'd be happy that he had good form and followed through.
I came across your blog while just stumbling around online, and I have to say I went through and read all of the posts. I absolutely loved it. There were times I was laughing so hard, but at the same time I could see the truth in all of it. I loved your ways of explaining everything! I'm sure you were so great during her pregnancy and I'm sure you are a great father! Best wishes to you!
F/24
I think this project is such a wonderful suggestion. I mean, I was planning on making one before I actually read this. Well because of the fact that children would grow with such a fast pace these days. I hope every parent would document every day of their child's growth, it's a magical thing.
Beautiful story, and lovely idea! I would love to do this for all my kids however but finding the time is always an issue! Maybe i should make this a hjob for dad... :)
Bill,
I hope you realize how helpful your blog is. It is hilarious and has wonderful advice and information. I am currently 11 weeks pregnant and we are expecting our baby in May. My hormones have been very unkind to me and created all kinds of issues and insecurities. My husband discovered your blog and loved reading it. Ever since he started reading the blog, things have been so much better between us! He has now read it all and the change is amazing. My hormones had me convinced that since he did not do certain things, he did not care about me or the baby. It is now very obvious that he does care about us very much. He seems more understanding when it comes to my feelings and needs. Watching him smile and laugh while reading your blog was great too. His smile just creates instant happiness for me. He read some of the posts to me and it was like you were describing our thoughts, feelings and life's. Thank you so much for your blog. It doesn't just help expecting fathers understand pregnancy more, it helps the relationship with the mothers.
Luckywife, thank so much for your comment! I'm glad it had such a positive impact for both you and your husband. That was my goal with the blog and I'm glad it was of some assistance to you both. It is a big unknown for everyone and can be a difficult and scary time for everyone.
Please keep me updated on your pregnancy and if you have any questions or ideas for more posts please let me know.
Hopefully you're just about past any morning sickness and feel better soon.
Bill
beautiful story! thanks for sharing
I came across your blog and already in luv with it...jst browsing through various pages..keep it up
seeing comments like this make me wonder if i am doin all i can for my girl we are both 17 and hav a crazy promiscous past but we fell in love and are havin a little girl things are tough for us and i thought my relationship with the only girl i loved was goin to shit but i started to talk to others who delt with almost the same arguments and fights we had and it made me realize its normal and all i have to do is just be there for her no matter what comes my way in an explosion of hormones thanks to blogs like these i am more at peice with myself and just remember alot of things she says or does are not always her so dont get to down with guilt or fustration just hold her hand tighter when it feels like shes pullin away (metaphorically) its the best thing you can do thank God for sites like these and ALWAYS STEP LIGHTLY WITH YOUR ACTIONS and do wat ever she says with no fight back because all that does is push her away and if you truly did nothin wrong or did something wrong but not to big of a deal like cheating or hittin her or callin names just let it slide and dont ponder on it its only a mind game she dont mean to play so dont fall into it
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