Skip to main content

My Journey with a Singer Part II

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



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey to Orillia

We drove a little bit late at night. I had been to this place called Orillia before, but it was about ten years ago. I didn’t remember much about it, other than it was beautiful. Here we were on the road, and there was not much we could see, except a signal on the highway that said “beware of cattle”. We thought it was funny.   By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was almost midnight. I went straight to bed. We had to wake up early in the morning as breakfast was scheduled to be served a six O’clock. There was no way I was going to miss out.‎ You may be wondering what was happening in Orillia. I am glad you asked. A number of months ago, Paul, my business partner, got this brilliant idea, and once he shared it with me I was totally on board. He realized that for us to do what we wanted to do, we must work with partners. These may be service providers, or simply other business owners with goals similar to ours. Paul decided to go out and attend different netwo...

My Journey to my wedding

Where do I start? I don't really know. As I am waiting for my flight at Kigali airport, with tears in my eyes, I am thinking about the last few days. There are no words that can explain what I have experienced in this month of December 2010. As Phil Collins said, it's another day in paradise. The person who said that words are powerful was so right. It took a few words from my then girlfriend, now wife (are you kidding me!!!!), to start a series of events that led me to this moment. She just said: “Honey, this long distance thing is killing me”. Having been in a couple of long distance relationships, I knew what she meant. This time, it was different. I had to do something, otherwise, this relationship would end up like the other ones. I had promised myself to do whatever it took to make this one work. As I hung up the phone, I thought I had to move mountains. I had to find a way to meet her. Originally, my intention was to visit her in July 2011, however, this felt like a cent...

My Journey with a Bestseller

Two weeks away from writing (among other things) are now enough. I am back to you… I am getting into the podcast listening world and I am really mad at myself. How in the world was I late to the party? There are powerful podcasts out there, and on various subjects. It is like an all-you- can- eat buffet (you know my well-established relationship with food).  Just last week, I was into productivity podcasts and what I learned was so valuable that I now feel I want to turn my life upside down and start everything from scratch (maybe it would be unproductive but it is worth the try). Anyways… I am here to talk about something different. I can now brag and say that I have a bestseller friend. You don’t believe me? Here is the proof: Bonjour Patrick, J'ai écrit le livre "Introverts: Leverage Your Strengths for an Effective Job Search". Il est devenu #1 sur Amazon pendant le premiers 10 heures et a reçu le statut de Bestseller le 1er Juillet That is a...