This entry was posted on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Family Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
“Where did you lose it, daddy?” she asked me as the car rolled along quietly through the chilly LA morning sunshine on the way to her school.
I paused for a moment, realizing that I had just opened a far-too-complex conversation with a four-year-old, then replied “I didn’t actually lose it, sweetie, like the way you lose a toy or a doll. They just decided they didn’t need me any more so I won’t be going back there.”
“What about your board? Can I still draw on your big white board?” she asked.
“No. Not on that one. That board belongs to them. It’s OK, we have markers and a smaller board at home. You can still use those.”
The questions kept coming. “So where will you go after you drop me off after school?”
“I’ll go back home, kiddo.” I aswered.
“You’ll work at home?”
“If I can,” I said, now regretting what I had gotten myself into. “The last time this happened to daddy, before you were born, I did pretty well for a while doing graphic design and consulting.” I immediately felt a bit foolish for expecting my daughter to understand the concept of “consulting”, but she took pity on me and let it go.
We drove in silence for several minutes, each of us wrapped up in our own thoughts before she asked another question.
“So you’ll just take me to school and then be at home? For how long?”
“Hopefully not too long, but the last time this happened it was a lot longer than I thought so, yes, I’ll be at home for a while.”
Thoughts whirled in my mind as I awaited her response, and with a furrowed brow and a heavy heart I began to formulate complicated answers to what I expected to come next; explanations of the term “recession”, a model of typical corporate downsizing in a cash-poor financial structure and why middle-management marketing was no place for a person to be these days. How was I going to let her know all of this would be OK? Why did I even bring it up to a four-year-old?
Finally, after careful thought, she shouted her reply.
“YAAAAY! Now we can play together all the time!!!!”
I smiled a little knowing that, once again, her point of view was the better one.
-Matt
November 22nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Okay….That brought tears to my eyes as I sit here wondering why I still cannot obtain ONE full time job since finishing grad school…but I do get to spend more time with my 4 year old son.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Great post Matt. Rotten topic, if you don’t mind my saying. I sincerely hope you all will see the other side of this very soon.
In the meantime, play when you can and especially when you think you shouldn’t.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Awww..Frankie always says it best!
p.s. Will you fire up your twitter account again now? Everyone misses @RedSparks!!
McMommy´s last blog ..Attack of the Optimist.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Hey, I’m sorry to hear about your job, Matt. Beautifully written post, though. Good luck! (And have fun playing in between the job-search activities, m’kay?)
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November 23rd, 2009 at 7:01 am
She certainly has a great perspective.
Ed´s last blog ..No Room For Gray
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November 23rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Kids are great. I love this age. Way before cynicism and negativity grabs a hold of them..
praying for a new job for your bud.
Eric´s last blog ..Countdown to Baby – T Minus FOUR
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November 24th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Darn! Keeping you in my prayers for getting back into an income-earning track. You really know how to spin a story with a child’s perspective. Hoping your talent is recognized by someone soon!
Barbara´s last blog ..The mistaken view of learning through function
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