Messages from the Heart

Allow me to present Mr. Austin Fluffer the Third, Esq.

JP has been sending (and receiving) care packages from some of her "bloggy" friends and DD has gotten into the spirit of sharing and giving. She used her allowance to buy small presents for us and Mr. Fluffers was her present to me.

I have a small amount of puppetry experience (thanks, in part, to the original Muppet Show) and was animating this Valentine Tiger with little moves and pounces. When I made him shake his hips like the kittens do just before they pounce, DD was all giggles. JP wanted me to do a voice for him and, well, the only inspiration that came in that moment was Mike Meyers. So, out came an overly broad British accent and the growls you might remember from the first Austin Powers movie. ("Oh, Beeehave! Mrwrowr")

A couple of weeks before Christmas, Kara spotted Beary here in a local Starbucks and decided she wanted to give him to me for Christmas.

Now, JP has been refining the look of our bedroom. She's replaced the mishmash of picture frames with ones that more closely match the furniture and she's added curtains that accent the same colors. It looks really nice...except there's not much room for stuffed animals. So she's asked that I take Mr. Fluffers to work (since no one minds if my workspace looks a little, well, geeky). She tried to get me to take Beary, too, but I keep him on my side table next to the reading lamp.

I think it's kind of interesting that the girls have gotten to the age where they're buying stuffed animals for me. They leave me other presents, too. For example, Kara did some artwork on a small whiteboard attached to my computer armoire. When I spoke to her on the phone a couple of nights ago, she told me I was the best daddy in the world. Of course, it made my heart melt.

DD also leaves messages for me on the same whiteboard. This one is from November. (You may need to click on the image to actually read it.) I confess there is a small amount of photoshopping involved, but only to fuzz her RL name. The "Pinky" reference refers, of course, to Pinky and The Brain (which I introduced to her when they released the DVD last summer).

I love the fact that my girls do these things for me. I'm very happy they feel this way about me and are comfortable expressing those feelings. Truly, I feel very blessed to be a part of their lives.

It's a nice validation, really. I've tried really hard to give them the kind of home and love that I wanted when I was their age. No, I'm not trying to live through them; I'm simply trying to help them find their own lives, to become the people they wish to become, the people I see in them. True, I play with them and I listen to them. I talk to them and share the things that are age appropriate for them. I show them that being a grown-up isn't as easy as it seems and I let them remind me that it's just as hard to become a grown-up. I hope it's the beginning of a life-long friendship with both of them.

In closing, I'd like to share a very special plaque that DD gave me for my last birthday. I think it says it all.