As I got home
yesterday after a long day at work, Skylar was so excited to see me, and gave
me this big hug, in her own way giving me the report of the day.
After a while, she just said: “Daddy, I want my phone”. That
is how things are. Everything I have is hers. I mean everything!
Since she was a few months old, she was at a daycare
downtown Toronto. She stayed there for a while even after we moved in the East
end of the City. I used to go to pick her up in the evening, and because we had
a long trip home, I thought it would be better to go to a nearby food court so
that she could eat something before we hit the road ( I think my wife started
that tradition).
After a while, she got used to our trip to the small Greek
restaurant whose owner had become a friend of ours because we went there almost
every evening. He even had a “Skylar Menu” which was made of rice, meat balls
and a small bottle of chocolate milk, all for just three dollars. Skylar was so
used to the small restaurant that, by the time we got there, she would run to
open the fridge to get her chocolate milk after giving her daily hug and kiss
to the owner.
The funny part was when we were on the street coming from
the daycare, she used to say: “Daddy, do you want rice?” To which I said:
“yes”. And then she would go: “And chocolate milk?” I would say: “yes”. Then
she would say: “ok, let’s go”. It was as if she was the one buying. Then,
remember, what it is mine is hers. In a way,
she was the one paying lol
Coming back to my phone, sorry her phone. She asked me to give it to her, and of course
she knows how to go on YouTube (kids these days!) and find her favourite songs.
She loves a bunch of songs, but apart from Christian songs, she likes watching
to her uncle’s songs. She calls him “Tonton Passy” (French for “Uncle Passy”).
Once the music starts to play, she can’t stop dancing.
However, this time, she didn’t go to YouTube. She also knows
where my audios are. She started to listen to the songs I have been listening
to. Do you know what happened? An hour later, she started to sing them. She
went from X Ambassadors ‘song “Renegades” (my favourite song for the moment),
to The Eagles’ “Take it to the limit one more time” (one of my all-time
favourite), then it was R-Kelly’s “The Storm is over” (yes I know I am old
school). She blew my mind! We have a superstar in our home.
I am now so careful about what I say or do when she is
around (not that I was doing anything wrong before). She learns so much by
observing and listening that, I am now very conscious about what she is
learning. It was so funny the other day when she asked me: “Daddy, I want to
watch Colbert”, meaning Stephen Colbert’s show “The Late Show”. She has seen me
watch that show every day, now she wants to watch it even though she does not
understand any of it. When I asked her why she wanted to watch the show, she
said: Colbert is funny…
This is a three year old kid…
Aren’t we all kids in a way? Don’t we also learn by
observing and listening? I believe that what we see or hear does have an
influence on who we are, what we do, and the results we produce. Unfortunately,
we are so surrounded by negative influences that, it is so hard to focus on the
positive. If you don’t believe me, just watch the news for a second and you
will see.
I am doing my best to stay on the positive side of things.
Really doing my best. My well-being depends on it.
Moral of the story? Do you want to stay positive all day
long? Just call my daughter and you will be watching Colbert.
Always a pleasure,
Patrick
The Journeyman
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