The big question

Hi friends and family,

I'm just an average guy who started with no clue about parenting. Kendra's learning curve was much shorter than mine because she baby sat on and off for 15 years, was a live-in nanny, worked at a daycare, and was a nanny for a set of new-born twins. If you ever wonder why I don't worry about situations it's because I have an expert sleeping next to me every night.

I can count on one hand the number of times I held a baby before Kendra brought Easton and Layla into my world. Even though I was a complete rookie, there were a few key milestones I anticipated from the day they were born.

For example, the day the twins quit spitting up on my shoulder after every meal. I knew that day would come and let me tell how gloriously relieved I felt when it arrived. Of course there was also the magical days they crawled, walked, talked, etc.

Several weeks ago Easton and Layla finally responded correctly when I asked them, "why?" for various situations. Their response started with the word "because" and from that point on they have become more proficient at responding to my why questions.

Today was another milestone which I've been anticipating since the day they were born. I know of this milestone because many other parents have made comments about their own children during the course of my life.

Layla asked me, "why?"

That may not sound like a big deal, but looking towards the future I know full-well exactly how profound this is. The first day of the rest of my life. Easton and Layla will ask me, "why?" thousands of times over the next few years. I've been practicing my response of, "because I said so". Just kidding about that last part. The truth is I can't wait to teach them and I'm extremely hyped to begin answering their why questions. They may not fully understand my answers and they may not like my response. Even so, Layla asking me why is an invitation for Kendra and I to become teachers and step into that role.

They learned to follow directions several months ago, but blindly following orders is no more spectacular than a dog responding to commands. The real human side of their development is the self-awareness and asking the why question.

Our parent-child relationship just got a whole lot more interesting.

See you soon!