Sit with me

We had a full day yesterday.  My middle child had school, went for a play date, had supper, then went with our family to the park where I played basketball with my friends and he played soccer with his.

After we had gotten home, bathed, changed into our pajamas, he said to me, “I’m bored. What can I do now?”

It was already passed his normal bedtime, but he was clearly too geared up for that, so I said, “Come sit with me on the porch.”

“Just sit? Boring,” he said.

“It’s either that or go to bed,” I told him.

“Fine, I’ll sit,” he said.

We pulled up deck chairs and sat.  I finished my beer. He held the bottle, waving at people on the sidewalk and pretending to drink from it.  We chatted about nothing really.

Finally I told him that it was time for bed.

“Dad,” he said, as we climbed the stairs to his room, “let’s sit on the porch again tomorrow.”

Luke Hill is a stay-at-home father of three boys, aged nine, seven, and three.  He has fathered, fostered, adopted, or provided a temporary home for kids anywhere between birth and university.  He has taught college courses, adoption seminars, camp groups, Sunday School classes, rugby teams, not to mention his own homeschooled kids.