"Where's Daddy At?"

Life has a way of becoming a series of habits, schedules, rituals.  We get into our routines...wake-up time, work, activities with our kids and for our kids, appointments, classes at the gym, bedtime.  Some tasks have specific times...Zumba class at 10:00 AM.  Other things are more vague...Meals tend to be whenever we're hungry but often around the same times each day.  Holidays become routines, too.  Who hosts them.  What time we're to arrive.  Who's making what foods.  

It's funny how even our little ones have their own routines, too.  I recently started to take note of a morning routine that Mya has.  It's become quite comical because now that I'm aware of it and look for it, she rarely misses a day.

When I hear her waking up in the morning and enter her bedroom, she's typically either sitting or standing there watching and waiting for me.  And nearly every single day, the first words out of her mouth are...

"Where's Daddy at?"  

And nearly every single day, my response is, "Silly girl, you know where he's at...Work.  Daddy's a teacher."  Some days, she even answers her own question before I can.  And there have even been a few Saturdays or Sundays (when Brandon is home from work), that she's caught herself asking HIM that very same question as he enters her room in the morning.  When she realizes her mistake, it cracks her up.  She'll even laught out loud.  She's so used to this routine...especially with it being 5 out of the 7 weekdays...that it's just become a part of her morning habit.  

We all have habits.  Things that are good.  Things that are not-so-good.  Things that matter and are important.  And things that we could eliminate from our lives...should eliminate from our lives.

I love how Mya loves her Daddy.  How she's concerned about where he's at.  What he's doing.  I love that she misses him and wants him to be home.  As summer approaches and another school year winds down, our family will have to again make the transition of having Daddy home for a good chunk of the summer.  And it's a transition for us.  We love having him at home...but it takes times for us to readjust to our summer schedule, our summer routines.  (And we face a similar transition at the end of summer as school resumes again.)  This year, though, I'll be curious to see if Mya continues to ask, "Where's Daddy at?" once he's "home for the summer."  

Your situation at home is likely different from ours.  But regardless of the dynamics of your life and your daily routines, I think we have something to learn from little ones.  They are so concerned for things...for others.  (Not always but often.)  When a toy's missing or a favorite friend has to go home, they are devastated.  They are so concerned for the things around them.  Now you may be thinking to yourself that it's different because children are so young or that they don't understand the world around them outside of themselves.  But what I appreciate about Mya's perspective (even in the midst of tantrums over this concern for others) is that she wants to DO something about it.  She's not okay with that friend leaving.  She's not okay that her toy is missing.  She wants something to be done...now.  Patience and understanding (and many other traits) will hopefully come with time...but for now, I will choose to be thankful for her concern.  

I...like Mya...want to fight for those around me.  Be concerned for their lives, for their souls.  I want to reach out and show the love of Christ to friends, family, strangers.  I want to be filled with empathy and compassion and justice.  I don't want to be complacant.  Stagnant.  Okay with the mediocre.  I want to always wonder, dream, and challenge myself.  And embrace change.  Each day I realize more and more how much we, as adults, have to learn from the little ones in our lives.