Friday, July 23, 2010

Parenting Changes Everything

While I don't usually blog about family stuff (Jessica's blog is the usual destination for that, which, incidentally, is why she gets more readers than I do), I had an experience today that reminded me that being a parent changes everything.

I rarely go to movies in theaters. It's too expensive, and ever since I spent a summer working in a movie theater and saw the horrors that go on there, I can't go near the concession stand without having flashbacks. (The upside was free movies and getting to work with my best friend, Lisa.)

I made an exception today to go see Inception. I love Christopher Nolan's movies, plus I'd promised my friend Will that I'd write a movie study for YMToday.

A little more than halfway through the movie, when the crew is just starting the "big job" that drives the plot, I got a phone call. I ignored it at first because I didn't recognize the number, and let it go to voicemail, but when the same number called me a few minutes later, I knew it must be urgent.

It turned out that Kate was being sent home from daycare, along with half her class, with a very high fever. I had to walk away from the film I'd paid $8 to see so I could go sit in the waiting room at the pediatrician.

Sounds annoying, right? Two years ago I would have thought so. But since Kate had a fever and was feeling sleepy, she clung to me the whole time and pretty much just buried her head in my shoulder, even as other kids were screaming and running around.

It's going to cost me $8 more to find out how Inception ends, but those kind of tender moments with my little girl are priceless.

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