A Happy Father’s Day

So far the highlight of my day has been being awake between 1:30 and 2:30 AM. Seriously.

Lucy has been the Sultana of Slumber lately, giving us a pretty regular overnight sleep cycle between 11:PM and 5:AM or so. Once Ann has gotten her down to sleep late, then she just purrs along till dawn. So that made it unusual to awake to her crying at 1:28 AM. “What’s with this?” we wondered. I staggered over (literally) to check her, and Ann agreed that maybe her last feeding had been a little sleepy (so a little skimpy) and that maybe she was hungry already….

But no: as soon as I picked her up in a cradle hold, she dropped straight to sleep. I tried to put her down again, and she immediately opened her eyes and squawked. So I picked her up — out light a light. “OK, I get the picture.” She wanted to be with Papa first thing on Father’s Day. I sat up with her for an hour, till she caught the wave into that truly deep sleep, and then we both got some more good sleep till she really was hungry at 5:AM.

Last year on Father’s Day, we had just had our third miscarriage, so that just meant the holiday was a crappier day than every day already was. The memory of last summer’s sadness makes a chance to hold sleeping Lucy all the sweeter for me. So thanks, Lucy, for a quality start to my first Father’s Day!

And here’s to all of you fathers who I hope get a special moment with each of your kids. And to all the wish-you-were-fathers: I know it’s just going to be a crappy day. There’s nothing to do about it, really, except try to keep your eyes open for sparks of God’s care for you. I’m praying today especially for you all.