“Daddy, can you tell me a story?”

When my oldest daughter was a baby, it was easy.
I’d stick to the simple lullaby’s and songs like, Little Bo-Peep, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and the old faithful… Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
But as she’s grown up, the songs and stories have become more magical, more elaborate, and more made up than ever before.
Little Red Riding Hood? Not having it.
Cinderella? 17% chance.
On most nights, I invent stories…
Stories of new worlds, wild characters with magical super powers, and places only the imagination can think up.
But they’re not just any story. They’re stories with a purpose and a life lesson.
For example, take Squirmy Wormy (aka: my index finger).
Squirmy is a stubborn worm who can barely crawl that wants to grow up and turn into a butterfly so she can fly like her friends.
However, it doesn’t come easy for ol’ Squirmy.
She does push ups and quits.
She starts to run and scrapes her knee.
She tries to fly and falls on her face.
But over time and with practice, Squirmy learns how to crawl, then how to walk, then run, then ride a bike, and as she grows she turns into a beautiful butterfly that can fly. (It also includes my flapping hands for wings.)
It’s a story of persistence and failure, then success.
And it’s a story that’s all “made up.”
As each night approaches, I think of a word to focus the story.
Then, I craft (mostly fumble) my way through a story that tells a tale of what it means to be: courageous, loving, caring, thoughtful.
Through the power of story, I’m hoping to weave in the threads of life and what it means to be, do, and have that trait.
Not only does it give my kids a sense of wonder, awe, and enjoyment, but it gives me a quiet and focused opportunity to positively impact their lives.
Though it’s never perfect, there’s certainly days that I regret.
I regret the days where my lizard brain wants to veg and watch the latest episode of Forged in Fire, only to leave my girls begging for my last drop of the days attention.
There will be a day that these stories will come to an end with rolled eyes and boyfriends.
I hope to remember when I taught my girls how dinosaurs died and went to heaven or where flowers come from or why our eyes are blue and brown or why grasshoppers hop or whatever.
While my wife captures pictures and videos, I, on the other hand, capture conversations.
For now, I try my very best to live in the moment, dream up wild worlds with my kids, and record the moments as they happen.
As we all know… “these” days… won’t last forever.
