Hugging Daddy:
CM in NY: I don’t know about you, but after children came along it became increasingly difficult to find time for intimacy. Saturday morning was usually the best time and my husband and I took advantage whenever we could.
In the middle of things, one Saturday morning, my 2-year-old awoke in his own bedroom and bee-lined it for our bedroom. I heard him and immediately called out to him not to come in. We had just enough time to cover ourselves, but not enough to time to change our position. The door to our room was cracked open just a bit as I never liked shutting the door completely with the kids asleep next door. I could see his little face peeking through the crack asking me why he couldn’t come in. I made a lame excuse and told him he could go downstairs and turn the TV on, that I’d be down in a little while.
He looked at me with those discerning eyes and asked, “When?” I told him, “In a few minutes.” To which he queried, looking right at me, “When you’re done hugging Daddy?”
Where’s Your Hair:
I guess this story really starts with the fact that my grandfather was a tough, sometimes unbending man. He had a soft spot for my son, Steven, though.
One evening, my children and I were having dinner at my mother’s house where my grandfather was also a guest. I don’t know why this night was different; my son had had regular contact with my grandfather since his birth about 2½ years ago. This night, though, when my grandfather arrived at the house he began talking to Steven, as he usually did, but wasn’t getting his usual too-cute-and-smart responses. His mind was somewhere else as he looked up at my grandfather’s 6′ 5″ tall frame.
I could see the wheels in his little mind turning, his head bent to one side like a confused puppy. Ignoring everything else that my grandfather had said to him, he looked all the way up to my grandfather’s face and asked him, “Where’s your hair?”
Luckily, my grandfather was the first to bust out laughing. The rest of us couldn’t have contained ourselves if he’d taken offense!