It was a fascinating day as a father yesterday. This picture was in the Chicago Tribune yesterday as my daughter was captured participating in the 100th birthday celebration for the Girl Scouts. I, of course, put it on my Facebook page and allowed the world to revel in how great she is (the father said with unabashed pride). Later in the day, however, she had to go to the hospital to get a splint put on her finger because it turns out she fractured it on Sunday playing volleyball. My wife had to spent a few hours with her at the hospital.
That evening, my son was in a question-asking mood. He wanted to know about my relationship with my brother. Were there times that we hated each other? Did I have any examples of when I was angry with him? How about times when I loved him? That led to him thinking about my parents. How old was I when they got divorced? Why did they get divorced? More questions were asked as I did my best to explain everything.
I think the questions about my brother stemmed from a book he was listening to in the car where two sisters were fighting. He and my daughter really do get along very well. But there are times when their differences are so evident. Ethan is so inquisitive and likes to be up front in a particular role. He has a future in theater, I think. And yet he doesn’t really like being in huge groups of people. Caroline is the opposite. She’s fine being up front, but also really likes being with others.
I don’t claim to understand it all. But it’s amazingly fun.