Annie started daycare this week, one that has been a
whirlwind of emotion for Eileen and I. All of the clichés are starting to
finally hit home:
“I just don’t want
her to grow up”
I've heard parents say this a million times and I never quite understood it, since the older your child
grows, the more cool stuff you can do with her.
Well now, I finally understand what this means. At only 3 months of age, Annie is growing and
starting to show some of her personality, which so happens to be, “I am the
princess here and things will go my
way, get it?” I’m already a pushover.
With Annie’s first “big” milestone of attending daycare,
this past week I’ve been thinking about how I am going to progress as a father
as she grows older as well as what types of lessons I am going to teach my
daughter during her life. So since I
tend to over-share my life with anybody who feels like listening, I thought I
would list them here.
These are just some of the lessons that I am going to
teach my daughter. I think that they’re
pretty important – so important that they pertain to all of us at any age, so
read up:
 |
| Acting like a goof with Daddy, Annie's favorite pastime. |
Be Yourself. It’s the best and
absolute hardest person to be. There is
no lesson greater than this – there is a reason I listed it first. I’ve found out during my life that genuinely
being yourself doesn’t always come with the best benefits. Sometimes you will be laughed at and other
times you will be susceptible to the scrutiny of others. But guess what? Authenticity matters; and it’s clear as day
to see in somebody. There are many
people that value you for just being you and those are the people you want to
associate yourself with. I’m sure my
wife laughs off the fact that I love teenage pop music, that I iron jeans even
if they aren’t wrinkled, or that I am the clumsiest person north of Columbus,
but she loves the hell out of me and wouldn’t have it any other way (I think). I am not afraid of who I am and I hope that
Annie grows to be just as insanely goofy, passionate, and unique as the tall
guy that she calls Daddy.
Laugh Often. Sure,
there are times to take things serious, but I haven’t quite found one yet.
It’s Okay to Fail. And it’s okay to
fail a lot. As long as each failure
brings opportunities for new learnings then go ahead, fail away. There is no blueprint for success. Everybody learns and creates in their own unique
style through many experiences in life.
Some of my greatest achievements at work have been born out of massive
failures. Our current schooling system
does not reward failure, so it seems like a counter-intuitive lesson to teach a
child, but I believe it is an important one.
The more you fail – the more you are trying – the more you win. The sum of those experiences breeds success.
Wear Sunscreen. Your
last name is Simcox and you come from Flannery genes. You’re going to need SPF 85 for the entirety
of your life. Sorry kid
Be a Strong Woman. I
won’t really have to teach Annie this.
First off, I have no clue what being a strong woman entails – it’s okay
to admit when you don’t know something (Hey look, another lesson!). More importantly, Eileen can write the book
on strong womandom. Eileen attributes
the majority of her confidence from attending Our Lady of the Elms, an all-girl
high school in Akron, a school that Annie will hopefully someday attend. There is no better
mentor to Annie on how to become a strong woman than the incredibly short, but
amazing strong lady that she calls Mommy.
Born to Run is the
Best Album Ever Recorded. I
don’t think I’ll ever be ready to deal with “Dad’s music is not cool”. The daughter of Eileen and Ryan must like
Springsteen, there are no options here.
No room for discussion. Hell, it’s
amazing her name isn’t Rosalita Simcox.
 |
| Peace. |
Have Faith. Have faith in God.
Have faith in others. Have faith in yourself.
Believe in your abilities, have confidence. You can do anything that you put your mind
to. All of those clichés…..They are
popular for a reason, because they are true.
I know that they are true because faith helped me pull
through during 2014, the best year of my life.
We waited a long time to have a child and leaned on faith that one day
that dream would come true. And it
did. And now she’s here. And her name is Annie Grace. And she’s the best thing to ever happen. And I can’t wait to teach her all that I
know.
No comments:
Post a Comment