a little time to be a proud dad.....

While driving into work the other day, I started thinking about how proud I am of our daughters. Sure, the bride and I have issues with them from time to time, from toothbrushing reminders to curfews, but for the most part they make being a parent pretty easy. (I reserve the right to change my mind on that as often as I want.)

I don't want to sound like one of those "my kid's better than your kid" kind of parents. I remember while growing up being exposed to parents like that and they're just no fun to be around. Besides, after a while you start rooting for the kid to mess up so you can sit back and say, "well, well, well, look who isn't so perfect after all". But I read something from a blog called "Dad Gone Mad" the other day that just sort of encapsulated my feelings. He said: "When I start talking or writing about my kids, logic and restraint get trampled under a stampede of gush. I find so much to love and applaud about them that my mind develops a mind of its own. I suppose I used to feel as though that isn't OK -- that bragging too much about one's kids is off-putting and a recipe for making the listener tune out." So with that in mind, here goes.

Meg's having a really good senior year. She's Senior Editor of the yearbook and enjoying most everything about it. She said something to the bride and me the other night that really impressed me. She was talking about an issue she had with a couple of other yearbook staff and said something like, "Well, I guess I can't be both editor and friend at the same time." That's pretty mature. Over my career there have been times when I've wished supervisors who reported to me would understand this.

Sara tried out for the Freedom Middle School softball team this past Saturday. There were 22 girls who tried out and only 13 were supposed to make it. After tryouts she told me that she had a hard time with her hitting, and she seemed pretty down about it. She came home from school Monday crying. She slammed the door as she came in and cried, "Mom I didn't make it!" The bride came running in to console her and Sara was grinning from ear to ear. She'd been one of the ten who made the team.

OK, stampede of gush over.....