As a father, I have failed my daughter. But through recognition and I can begin to seek redemption. 
Let me explain…
Sunday, as Natalie was watching football she suggested that we build a fort in our TV room. She has these wonderful cardboard blocks that required a working knowledge of building design to assemble. In fact I put them together with the help of a professional builder (remember Dave?). Anyway, these blocks are nearly indestructible, at least for little girls (and I would imagine little boys).
Not remembering the blocks (although they were sitting right across the room), I suggested that she build a fort our of the coach cushions.
Natalie said “Build them out of couch cushions?” and gave me that look that our Lab, Scout, gives me when I’m explaining what I do for a living. You know the look – kind of quizzical with the head cocked to one side.
That was when I realized I’d failed my daughter.
See my job is to teach her to be fearless, educate her on the finer subtleties of cheeseburgers and show her other useless stuff in life, like how to whistle, make paper airplanes, to maximize the splash when she jumps in puddles AND HOW TO MAKE FORTS OUT OF COACH CUSHIONS!
That I hadn’t done this, or even realized that I hadn’t done this, until she was 4 years, 5 months and 24 days old will go down as one of my great tragedies as a father.
I knew I could fix this. I promptly ripped all the cushions, pillows and blankets off the couch and started building. We used chairs and footstools for greater structural integrity, built a grand entrance, and best of all, added a skylight for Natalie to poke her head out of.
Needless to say, Natalie, having never known such a thing was possible, was AMAZED! At that point, she took control – we needed a blanket to hide the secret entrance and cushions to line the floor. Once that was done, we needed to build a fort for blankie. I don’t speak blankie, but Natalie assured me that the pile of pillows covered by a blanket were very impressive to blankie…
Next weekend we’re going to take the cushions off the couch in the other rooms and build a multi-room, multi-story fort. All that sounded cool, but Natalie made me promise that it would have a skylight for her to poke her head out of.
Let me explain…
Sunday, as Natalie was watching football she suggested that we build a fort in our TV room. She has these wonderful cardboard blocks that required a working knowledge of building design to assemble. In fact I put them together with the help of a professional builder (remember Dave?). Anyway, these blocks are nearly indestructible, at least for little girls (and I would imagine little boys).
Not remembering the blocks (although they were sitting right across the room), I suggested that she build a fort our of the coach cushions.
Natalie said “Build them out of couch cushions?” and gave me that look that our Lab, Scout, gives me when I’m explaining what I do for a living. You know the look – kind of quizzical with the head cocked to one side.That was when I realized I’d failed my daughter.
See my job is to teach her to be fearless, educate her on the finer subtleties of cheeseburgers and show her other useless stuff in life, like how to whistle, make paper airplanes, to maximize the splash when she jumps in puddles AND HOW TO MAKE FORTS OUT OF COACH CUSHIONS!
That I hadn’t done this, or even realized that I hadn’t done this, until she was 4 years, 5 months and 24 days old will go down as one of my great tragedies as a father.I knew I could fix this. I promptly ripped all the cushions, pillows and blankets off the couch and started building. We used chairs and footstools for greater structural integrity, built a grand entrance, and best of all, added a skylight for Natalie to poke her head out of.
Needless to say, Natalie, having never known such a thing was possible, was AMAZED! At that point, she took control – we needed a blanket to hide the secret entrance and cushions to line the floor. Once that was done, we needed to build a fort for blankie. I don’t speak blankie, but Natalie assured me that the pile of pillows covered by a blanket were very impressive to blankie…Next weekend we’re going to take the cushions off the couch in the other rooms and build a multi-room, multi-story fort. All that sounded cool, but Natalie made me promise that it would have a skylight for her to poke her head out of.
3 comments:
Tim! This better than scrapbooking! Pictures and memories! So good!
-Karin
This is great - I love following the adventures of Princess Natalie and Dad. Makes me feel close regardless of the miles. Hope to hear more!
-Steph
Sweet fort Natalie and Tim! I don't think I've ever had a fort with a skylight before... I might need to rip the cushions off of my couch tonight and start building. Thanks for sharing your adventures.
xoxo - Sarah
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