You ate yet?
My wife and I have never been on the show Amaz ing Race, but last week we did get off work, pick up kids, change them into soccer gear, eat supper and find a parking spot at the soccer fields in under an hour. And no one said one single word that we would have been ashamed for our kids to hear.
It’s hectic, being a parent to three kids. Or just owning a dog, for that matter. Life’s just hard and busy for all of us these days. They say we’ll miss these times once they’re gone, which is probably true, but I think it’s still ok to acknowledge that sometimes they’re not super fun.
It’s just part of the cycle of life, these seasons of hectic living; maybe it’s because I’m one of three kids myself, but sometimes I have a little eerie feeling like I’m reliving something all over again. Little moments that remind me that I’m Daddy now, not the little boy in the back on the way to football practice.
Last week on the way as we backed out of the driveway for soccer was one of those moments. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Daddy picked us up for football. It was before cell phones, so he and Mama probably hadn’t spoken since before work that morning.
As he put his car in drive, he looked in the rear view and said, “Jacob, you ate yet?” “No, I’m still four.” We tell that story often, laughing at Daddy’s grammar and my literalism, but it’s also one of my favorite memories because it reminds me to not take any one day too seriously. Maybe he and Mama both had a bad day and were burning the candle at both ends. Maybe the stress was getting to them, and they snapped at each other, but all we remember is me thinking Daddy wasn’t sure how old I was.
We’ll have a bunch of days like last week this season, and every time, I’ll chuckle a little bit when I say, “Hey, y’all ate yet?”
