So that happened …

Just some of the things heard at the Garlett household over the weekend…

1. I overheard Ella talking to her brother, “Cade, we can’t get married because then our kids would only have a grandma and grandpa and not a gung gung and poh poh.” This stemmed from a conversation I’d had with Ella a couple of weeks ago when she announced she was going to marry Cade. After a momentary panic I cleverly asserted, “but don’t you like having your grandpa and grandma AND your poh poh and gung gung? If you marry Cade your kids will only have mommy and me as their grandparents, but if you marry someone else, your kids will get four grandparents like you.” She didn’t respond, and quite honestly I was thrilled at the time to just let the matter drop. But it’s nice to know the things I say to her actually stick.

2. A few hours after I heard Ella’s conversation with Cade, she asked Yan and me, “But can we still all be a family even if I don’t marry Cade?” I immediately retorted, “Not if we lived in Kentucky, but most other places, yes.” Yan shot me a look and I spent the next ten minutes trying to explain my joke in terms appropriate for a five-year-old. Ultimately my comedy went under-appreciated (as it so often does). But the big take-away for me was just how important the concept of family is to my children. It really is the center of their lives, in every aspect. And I love that they feel so connected and so important to all the wonderful people they’re related to.

3. “Stop it Cade!” for the twenty-seventh time during the weekend. Hmmm… that’s twice less than last weekend. Progress?

4. Upon seeing the awesome new game table on loan from my parents Cade said, “Cool Daddy, can we play games together all the time now?” Some of my happiest memories are of playing games with both my immediate and extended family throughout my life. “Yes we can, son; all the time,” I replied. I’m thrilled he’s as excited about that prospect as I am.

5. And also a couple of times this weekend, “I love you, Daddy.” Man oh man, is there anything better than that?