There's No Gratitude Without 'Atitude'

"Mommy! I missed you SOOOO much!"

There's nothing like being greeted with a warm welcome when you walk through the door after a tough day at work. My wife came home the other day and Mini-Me, our 2.9-year-old son, welcomed her with that booming announcement. She beamed in a way I hadn't seen since the day we walked down the aisle...at Target and 24-packs of Mountain Dew were under $5. Caffeine is a necessity in keeping up with the boys.

As trying as life can sometimes be with the tantrums of a 2.9-year-old, such moments of loving gratitude far outweigh the beastly attitude. And what about me, you ask? Oh, I get my share of gratitude, too.

"Daddy, thank you for making dinner. Thank you soooooo much!" Actually, he's still working on the fricative 'th' so it's even more adorable when he says it: "NAHK you for making dinner, Daddy!"

My heart just melts getting that amount of appreciation for opening a piece of string cheese and slapping some PB & J on a slice of bread. I slaved in the kitchen for six minutes and for him to acknowledge that at such an early age...tears. What can I say?

My favorite moment of Mini-Me's gratitude, though, came when Papa Boyd (his grandfather...and no relation to Papa Smurf) and I assembled and improved upon a 'new' swing set. You see, my wife has become an expert craigslister. Flipping through a Toys R Us flier, I mentioned wanting to get Mini-Me a cool set-up for the backyard. Within minutes (maybe it was days, but still, it was fast...she's that good) Papa Boyd and I were in West County disassembling and loading a swing set in the dark. A couple weekends later we worked furiously during Mini-Me's nap in the hopes of having it ready when he awoke. Unfortunately, Mini-Me rushed out of the house while the swings and such were still scattered around the yard.

It didn't faze him one bit...

"What's dis, daddy?"
"That's your new glider."
"NAHK you, daddy...NAHK you!"
"That's a big boy swing."
"Oh, NAHK you, daddy! NAHK you, NAHK you!"
"This is a telescope (aka 'cheap plastic tube with no magnification value') to look across the common ground."
"Ooooh, NAHK you!"
"And this is a steering wheel so you can pretend to be in a ship."
"NAHK you! NAHK you, daddy!"

The pure joy of the moment seemed even greater than Christmas morning. He was ecstatic with the treasures scattered in the grass and genuinely grateful for each and every one of them. Mini-Me spent the next half-hour carefully examining each piece prior to its assembly.

And me? Atop the new fort attaching the cheap plastic tube with no magnification value, I felt as though I was standing atop Everest. Fists on hips, chest out, chin up, I could do no wrong. I was Superdad!

“Daddy, why are you standing up dere like dat?”

Of course, Mini-me knows how to bring us back down to size.

The day he greeted my wife so warmly after her long day at work he immediately kicked off his shoes and ran to the living room where his toy trains waited.

"I missed you SOOOOOOOOOO much, Geotrax!"

At least we know who the competition is.