Last Friday I spent the morning at my daughter's preschool. I took a day off work, making sure to tell everyone I work with that I was proudly spending the time with my daughter. It was a great three hours.
The morning started with a variety of art projects. We colored, we glued, we were very creative. We then moved outside for some father-daughter time. My daughter lathered my face with shaving cream and "shaved" my face with a toy razor. I took a turn and shaved her face as well. We looked for gold rocks in the sandbox and she showed me how she can play on all the playground equipment.
We closed the morning with a beans-and-hot-dogs lunch (none of which my daughter ate) and a sing-along. I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world.
As I played with my daughter, I noticed a few things. First, it became obvious that several of these dads didn't seem to know what to do with their kids. They awkwardly talked and played, but it was unfortunate to see that not all of them appeared to have a close, playful relationhsip with their kids. Kinda sad.
But then there came the sing-along. It was amazing to see all these dads from all walks of life and from all educational and professional backgrounds singing the "hokey-pokey" with their kids. All pretenses and apprehensions were thrown out the door. Even the ones who appeared out of place earlier were really getting into it. Few could actually sing (or sing well at least), but all were having fun.
It's amazing what three hours with a bunch of three- and four-year-olds will do.
