Perspective

Happy Fatherhood Friday! Thanks to the folks at dad-blogs.com for organizing this event, and thanks to you, the readers, for visiting.

I distinctly remember being in 2nd grade and thinking, "Man, those 5th graders are huge! I'll never be that tall."

Oh how in just a few short years those 5th graders became, well, short.

It's all about perspective.

I also remember our pediatrician telling us the best way to "baby-proof" the house was to crawl around on the floor in every room to see, from the baby's perspective, the whereabous of potential hazards.

And yet, how easy it is to lose that sense of perspective.

I've always found the best way to engage my children is to "get down on their level" when I talk or play with them. I was reminded of this today, when the boys and I were sitting together on the ground, digging a hole in the back yard with sandbox tools (which felt like Andy Dufrane digging his escape tunnel in the Shawshank Redemption.)

I'm not even going to bother going into why we were digging a whole in the backyard, but it was strangely fun and satisfying.

You may remember that last week we were at the zoo.

Big Brother has recently shown a growing interest in creative self-expression through art.

It started with drawings in his "Blues Clues Notebooks" (which for some reason always have Lighning McQueen on the cover, and lead to the beautiful, downloadable Busy-Dad-E radio button to your right).

Now, it's photography. If we get the camera out, you better believe he wants to take some pictures.

And so, I'm going to share with you some of Big Brother's pictures from the zoo.

Sure, some are slightly fuzzy or crooked (or have a finger in the way), but most important part is they're HIS.

In viewing the photos, it was very enjoyable for me to step away from the hectic pace of adult life, to get a glimpse of the world as it's seen through my 4 year-old's eyes. It was a powerful reminder to me to consider the world from HIS perspective, literally and figuratively, which I think can only make me a more effective parent.

Here they are:

"CAGE"


"PANDA"


"POST"


"SOCKS"


"BIRD"


"POLAR BEAR"


"STROLLER"


"EXIT"


"PEACE"

I can't believe how well this last one turned out, and how well it captures the peace and beauty of the season (from my perspective).



Happy Easter!
Busy-Dad-E

P.S. Please join us in praying for Stellan and his family.