#55 Father's Day
Leisure is a luxury, even on weekends.
Fathers had been summoned to the little one’s school. We would have wanted the lady of the house to accompany us but the message was brutally specific for fathers.
The kid was acting difficult; ready for the park but not the school.
The past few days have seen a lot of firsts in terms of the words and sentences that he can speak. Oh my goodness to mosquito repellent. “No” for the school was another first. Also, for him, anything that takes him out of the house keeps him better. And, that’s a huge relief when you have to take the kid to school on a Saturday.
We were walking through the basement to go out in the Sun towards the main exit. I had to resist a spirited effort to pull me away from the path outwards. There is no choice but to pick him up, against his wishes, in such situations.
We reached the school and we were one of the first few people. I accepted the father’s day wishes with the alacrity of a struggling writer waiting for that rare word of encouragement and appreciation. I was getting prepared to be comfortably seated on one of those red, blue, green, yellow, and purple chairs, but with fatherhood comes a list of activities. We were now assigned the “fun” activities to carry out with our young allies.
This was going to be my first public display of fatherhood. I was nervous about my performance. I was sweating. But I didn't want to take my mask off. I thought it could save my face.
The activities were getting intense.
I am not a sportsperson by any standards even if I had been, something like picking matchsticks with a fork in your mouth or covering a toothpick on a clay with a straw in your mouth would have been a tough ask.
My takeaway from these activities was the words of encouragement I was receiving.
“You can do it, Pappa”
“Good job, Pappa”
“Well done, Pappa”
My guy didn’t want me to feel alone. He was the youngest of the lot and he was going above and beyond. The only flip-side to this show of support was the demand that followed. The urgent demand to be held and picked up. I happily relented.
We did well to be together. Together for each other.