Response #3 - 5 Questions for Cliff

DC: What is your favorite aspect of fatherhood?

Cliff: Day in and day out, the thing I like most about being a father is watching this little person grow. It is a truly stunning thing to behold. The physical growth is one thing, to be sure. But, in recent years, it has been much more fun to appreciate the intellectual growth, the social growth, and the emotional growth.

For example, watching Claire learn about humor. In the early days, she would make up jokes that weren’t really funny to anyone but her. Then, she started coming home with sort-of-funny jokes she heard at school. Now, she reads joke books, and asks why Mommy and I are laughing at something. Her brain is constantly twirling this stuff around, trying to make sense of it… trying understand what “humor” was. Then, we get to watch her try to incorporate this new-found humor into her life, and into her personality, and her communication style. It is a very cool (and at times frightening) thing to watch and be part of that development.

Another example, our Christian faith and heritage is very important to Claire’s mother and me. We go to church every Sunday, and most Wednesdays. We pray. We read our Bibles, and we read Bible stories to Claire every night. We sing, and listen to Christian music in the car. Claire knows that Jesus is important in our household. But, in just the last year, it has become clear to Claire that Jesus is not that important to many of the families in her school class, or her Brownie troop. That realization has made for some interesting dinner-time conversations. Some of those families do not pray before meals. Some of those familes do not go to church on Sunday. Some people are not Christians. “Daddy, how does somebody become a Christian?” (wow!) So, watching her grow this way… watching her struggle with reconciling facts, and differences, and opinions, and feelings… very powerful thing to behold. Very humbling, too.

And, on a lighter side, part of that development includes Claire finding ways to have fun. In the past six months, Claire has become more interested in games (indoor games, not so much outdoor sports). So, we’ve been playing Connect Four, and checkers, and (just this week) Twister and Monopoly, and a Scrabble-type card game, and Apples to Apples. As a parent, this, too, is fun to observe. (Certainly, it’s light years ahead of Hi, Ho, Cherry-O, and Candyland.) With this new gaming interest, she is learning strategy, and she is learning how to lose without being too hurt by it. As a parent, it is nice to see this happen, and it is nice to be in a position of influence, to help her navigate that sort of thing.