Day 1: Special outing with the sponge

It's day one of my quest to complete every objective in my quest to being a Gold Medal Dad. My wife and I bought a bench that needed to be returned and I also needed to pick up my college transcripts in anticipation of my Master's degree. The town is about an hour away so I thought this would be a good day to have that special outing...just the boys. Let me preface today's blog by telling you that Brighton will be four in August. We pulled out of the driveway and I turned off the radio. Brighton didn't like that and asked what happened. I told him we were going to talk for a little bit. He was quiet for a minute and as I looked at him in the rearview mirror, he smiled. Then he said, "That's OK, we can listen to *DC Talk."

  *In all of Christian music, DC Talk is my favorite group. I have every CD they have made. "Jesus Freak" is my favorite song. I play a baseball game on my PS3 and have created myself. Yes, I created myself because that is the closest I will ever come to my dreams of playing in the "show" will come. The cool thing is that you can import your own music into the game for when you come to bat. So, my walk-up music is "Jesus Freak".

 I asked him could we just talk for a little bit but he kept asking for DC Talk so I gave in. I had the radio turned down so I could talk to him but he was paying attention. He was staring out the window singing along with the songs one after another. He likes the "doo-doo-doo song" which is "Jesus is Still All Right"; "Daddy's song from baseball" which is "Jesus Freak"; and the "other DC Talk song" which is "Sugar Coat It".

Then we...

 Sorry, Brighton came in here and told me to come to his room to show me Robin was hanging on for dear life off the roof of Joker's hideout. Clayface evidently had a change of heart and is now a good guy and helped take out Joker. When asked, Brighton said Batman was flying around on his glider somewhere. That kids loves his superheroes.*

  *His Daddy likes superheroes too. I really don't know why. Maybe its because I remember growing up and my first big time movie I remember seeing was Batman with Michael Keaton. I already have my tickets in hand for The Dark Knight Rises for tomorrow night. I also liked Batman: The Animated Series. Honestly, if you look in my closet on the top row to the far right you will see t-shirts for Captain America, Spider-man, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, The Flash, Thundercats, and Voltron. Brighton saw a little Batman and Superman t-shirt at Wal-Mart and had to have them, so now we can match. 

On the way to the store, he started talking about animals. He loves his animals. Bright's favorite show is Wild Kratts. Brighton could work at a zoo right now. He can tell you the different types of raptors and examples of each. He can tell you how mother crocodiles take care of their young. Brighton can also tell you how some animals use mimicry to protect themselves. I have to open the shade on our sunroof so he can spot any raptors flying around. He spotted two turkey vultures while we were out. When we stopped at the college, Brighton asked to get on my shoulders because in his words, "It's faster than walking."

 As we walked up the stairs to the admissions office, a number of people looked at us and got my smiles. I smiled back because I am proud of my son because he speaks to people and waves back when they wave. 

After our stop at customer service to return the bench, we visited "Mr. Tent" in the middle of the store. "Mr. Tent" is a gazebo with a fly-netting on it. Brighton remembered him from our visit a week before and asked to go say hi.

 We drove a few more miles talking and he asked could we go visit Mama at work. I said sure but I would have to call first. After getting the OK, I told Brighton we would stop by and see her. Brighton asked if we were going to the mall. I told him no because Mama had a new job at a different building.*

  *My wife works for a company that used to have a kiosk in our local mall. That was over a year ago, but Brighton remembers stopping by there and seeing her.

 I realize that this is a lot to read but are you picking up on the pattern? My son is almost four-years-old and do you see how much he absorbs and retains? Everything he sees me do as his Daddy, he either wants to copy or talk about. He doesn't like "kiddie" songs because I don't care for them. He loves superhero shirts and shows because I like them. Every time I am playing my baseball game and he hears "Jesus Freak" he runs in to watch me bat and then goes back out again. He claps when I hit home runs and asks if I got a base hit. He constantly is showing me things he does, creates, or builds. You better believe I act like it is the best thing I have ever seen. Just to see his eyes light up when I am impressed is a blessing unto itself.

 In closing, while you are striving to be that Gold Medal Dad remember that your kids are sponges, no matter their ages. They are soaking up and taking in everything you do. They will remember things you have forgotten until they remind you of them. My mess up word is "Crackers".  Guess what Brighton says when he messes up?  When your child wants to show you something, just go and look at it. That's all they want. 

Speaking of which, my son has come in here three times to ask me to come and play Batman. So, I'm off to ward off the villains of Gotham City.

 Until tomorrow, keep striving to be the Father the Lord wants you to be and the Daddy your children need you to be.