“Are we done yet?” Little One #1 asks impatiently. “I want to go outside.”
Daytime Dad looks up at him and places the box of blueberries on the ground next to the box, which holds three empty quarts.
“We have a ways to go, bub,” Daytime Dad says.
“But I want to go outside,” Little One #1 exclaims.
Daytime Dad stands up, stretches and takes in the bright sun that bathes the hill of blueberry bushes.
“Outside?” Daytime Dad thinks to himself.
“Bub, we are outside, take a look around,” Daytime Dad says. “It’s a beautiful day and we need to get some blueberries. We have five boxes to fill. How is your box going?”
Little One #1 looks into his box and then looks at Daytime Dad.
Daytime Dad then looks into Little One #1’s box.
“Oh,” Daytime Dad says. “You have two blueberries in there. Where did they all go? I thought you had a bunch in there before?”
“I dropped them,” Little One #1 says.
“You did?” Daytime Dad answers. “Was it an accident or on purpose?”
“It was an acci-purse,” Little One #1 responds.
“Ah,” Daytime Dad says. “Wait, a what?”
Little One #1 decides now is as good a time as any to go find Off-For-The-Summer mom, who is out of sight on the hill but certainly not out of mind.
“Mommmmmmmy!” he yells, and away he goes through a row of blueberry bushes.
There are many of advantages to being a Daytime Dad. One of them is helping the Little Ones enjoy what the outside has to offer through a variety of adventures.
While not every adventure ends in smiles, hugs and a silent ride home (wouldn’t that be nice, though?), they are an adventure nonetheless.
Daytime Dad also knows that four months from now, when winter will settle in, Little One #1 will enjoy these blueberries — including the five he picked all by himself — in his pancakes, on his oatmeal or in his yogurt.