Being Dad

My wife and I had wrapped our gifts for each other and had them under the tree. It later occurred to me that our son's gifts were still sitting unwrapped in the closet. So, after he went to bed, we got out the supplies and went to wrapping his gifts. After we were done, we were quietly sneaking upstairs so as not to wake him when I had one of those "moments". I realized that it was now my turn to be the dad, wrapping gifts after my children had gone to sleep. It was now my turn to be the grown-up, to do all the things that make Christmas magical for little ones. It kind of warmed my heart and freaked me out all at the same time. It's cool though, I looked forward to the coming years when my kids are more and more excited about Christmas time.
Also of note in the "I'm a Grown-up now" category is that we babysat our niece last night. I thought of myself as "Uncle Doug" last night... strange concept. Not only do I have my own kid, but there are other little kids (well, just one so far) that I am somehow related to. For me, it was a strange, but reinforced my grown-upness, which I need from time-to-time. Not that working with youth doesn't make you feel old all the time, it's just different.
Anyway, have a good week finishing up your Christmas shopping...