Conversations from Yesterday

“Dad, are you mad?”

“No, I'm just thinking, why do you think I'm mad?”

“You have an angry face.”

“Sorry Lewis, I’m working on that.”

{I fake smile for a few hours}

It seems unfair that my children won’t compare me to my mom; they won’t see all the work I've done to become this version of myself. They'll only know the distance between the parent I am and the parent they needed me to be.

Worse still, they’ll compare me to my wife, their mother.

A few hours later:

“Dad, why did you use an angry voice?”

“Did that sound angry?”

{imitating me} “😑 You HAVE to PICK UP the magna tiles BEFORE we play Praying Mantis 😤”

{I'm dead 💀}

“Why don’t you talk more like Mom?

“How does Mom talk?”

{imitating Mom} “😘 Let’s pick up the magna tiles and then we can play Praying Mantis 😍.”

“Sorry Lewis, I’m trying to talk more like Mom.”

How to Play Praying Mantis

Step 1: Spread out the blue blanket over the wood floor to protect the mantis’ knees.

Step 2: Children can either be flies or beetles–their choice.

Step 3: The mantis assumes the position: kneeling (on the blanket) with arms folded at the elbows and hands bent towards the wrists.

Step 4: Children run near the blanket alternating between wanting to be captured and avoiding it. Both outcomes mean success.

Step 5: Mantis grabs boys (whether beetles or flies) and then kisses them until the mantis is nourished. Kissing is how a mantis eats.

Important note: It's okay if the older boy tries to convince the younger boy to run ahead as a decoy. The smaller boy doesn't seem to mind but it still seems wrong to trick a baby into the arms of a waiting mantis. This is just part of the game;  because when it ends and everyone throws off their shirts to cool down, the oldest child resumes the hard work of always and forever going first and he does this whether the mantis is smiling or not.