What you see above is a picture of what I encountered in Sydney-Boo’s Kindergarten hallway last week. The walls were lined with every school kid’s rendition of cowboys and cowgirls. I have to admit, at first glance I was a little intimidated.  Actually, if I’m being totally honest, I was really scared.  I must have looked a little glossy-eyed as I was trying to figure out if I could pick Sydney’s cowgirl out of the 20 lined up around it.  I walked up and down the hallway determined to find that cowgirl.

I have to confess, I was tempted to just start turning over the back to see the names.  Then I thought, I can do this.  I know my daughter. I have tons of art gems she’s created in the last five years.  The only difference is this time I had to focus on the face elements. I was used to seeing the arms with flower pedal style hands.  I needed to see the rest of the drawing in context.  I needed to see the straight line legs and bald head she always made when drawing me.  It took a few minutes, but I honed in on it.  I flipped the cowgirl over to see if I picked the right one, and sure enough it was the cowgirl my little angel made.

That day was a reminder that my relationship with my daughter is one of the most important ones I’ll have for life.  I realized that I need to know her heart, her creativity, and her passions.  I need to be more than just a father. I need to be her biggest fan. I need to be able to pick her creativity out of a line up.  I need to know the details of her life just as much as I know the details of the way she draws a face.

I love being a father for a lot of reasons. One of my biggest is the fact that it’s a life-long journey of adventure.  I look at this 5 year old creative mind and imagine how fun it is going to be watching her grow.  I can’t wait to see her develop into a beautiful woman.  I count it a privilege to have a front row seat to it all.

Breathe In & Smile Out,

Chris