The hustle and bustle of everyday life gets to us all. Add a couple of young kids and life seems to mostly consist of folding laundry, taking out the trash, washing dishes, officiating fights, and constantly saying, “No,” or, “Go to time out.” Fortunately, the good times far outweigh the work and every now and then we get little reminders of how precious each day should be.
Normally, the alarm sounds at 6:30 a.m. For some unknown reason, I was wide awake just before 6:00 this day. I deftly slipped my arm from underneath our four year old, Parker, who seems to
consistently have bad dreams at four thirty each morning. I tiptoed to the bathroom and quietly got ready for the day. At 6:17 I snuck out of the room, figuring I would have a nice breakfast and cup of coffee watching the horses, dogs, cats, goats, cows, and sunrise. I had a quiet hour before heading out to fix teeth for the day.
As I stirred my coffee, a gentle tug at my waist startled me. “Good Morning, Prince. Wanna’ watch a movie with me?”
Any father of a little girl knows exactly how the rest of my morning went. We poured a cup of milk and started the DVD of The Princess and the Frog (Dad gets substituted for characters in each movie, thus my Prince moniker for the morning). I was then sent for blankie and Sister (the doll of the moment) to complete the quorum. We snuggled up to our movie, milk, and coffee.
About every five minutes, I’d get a kiss on the cheek or an attempted wink. Actually, the wink was a double eyed squint, but I got the message. Various trips were made to acquire provisions from the kitchen. Fortunately, we always ended up back under the blankie with one arm to snuggle and the other to drink coffee.
Almost on cue, Peyton looked up and said,”You gotta’ work?”
I’d lost track of time and was now running a bit late. I hurriedly made the rounds, feeding animals and kissing everyone goodbye. I rolled into the office with seconds to spare and a smile on my face.
I really don’t remember what teeth I fixed that day or what patients had problems with their insurance. We have notes for that. Of one thing though, I am sure…it was a really good day
-Please send questions or comments to Drs. Parrish at www.ParrishDental.com.