Daddy Day

daddy and me, a photo by allisonandmatt on Flickr.

Today was Daddy Day at T's school. Since they won't be in school for Father's Day, the school welcomed all the dads in for donuts and a little time with their kids. T was a great host. In the picture above, he's holding a book he made for me called "Daddy and Me." In it, he notes that I'm as tall as a door, that I cook breakfast, and that I can't cook beans. It ends with the words "My dad is the best dad in the world because he loves me."

We completed a page of the book at the table in his room. Each of us traced the other's hand on one of the pages to finish it. From the classroom, we moved on to the next phase: donuts.



You'll notice I'm wearing two ties in the picture. The more prominent one is a paper bow tie Tobin made for the occasion. Underneath the bow tie is the one I chose for the day. It's a tie that belonged to my dad: a panda tie I remember him wearing when I was a kid. I pointed out my tie to T and he said "Good choice for Daddy Day!"

We chatted over donuts and juice. Topics of conversation included the upcoming NCAA tournament, why Krispy Kreme donuts aren't crispy, why some dads don't wear ties, and--most importantly--whether we could go back for seconds of juice and donuts.

When we finally had to wrap it up, I walked T back to class, where he gave me a guided tour of his classroom. I was the last dad there, and the class was beginning their work for the day, so I begrudgingly conceded that I needed to go. I left him at the table to work on his writing.



I headed home for lunch with Allison, Evan, and Lauren. The swirl of pride and love and gratitude for my family welled up in my eyes more than a few times today, and made Daddy Day more special than I can summon the words to say. I'll let the painting T made for today conclude instead. It's called "Playing Ball with Dad."