Kids

No one told me how funny it would be to have

them point at my freshly showered body parts

and repeat “what’s that?” as their dad gives each

part a silly name and we all laugh uncontrollably.

Or how suddenly the topic of how babies are

born can come up, and how easy it would be to

tell the plain truth, only to have her shrug and

move on to a new topic. No one told me how

frustrating it is to sing the same nursery rhyme

seven times in one night, or how scary it feels to

catch glimpses of their face in the morning light

where at just the right angle they look mature

beyond their age. No one prepared me for the

months when one drives you nuts and the other

seems easy, and the months after that where it’s

the other way around. If only they’d told me how

her skin would feel on mine while we spun in

circles — the gravity of her little body pulling

away from me as her arms wrap tighter on my

neck. Wispy hair floating mid spin. Hot breath

exhaling laughter deep from within her belly.

Second hand stopping on the clocks for just a

moment, only to quickly begin again.