In The Trees

Being a one-car family (or in our case a one-old-paid-for-covered-in-cracker-crumbs-SUV family) actually has advantages that out-weigh the disadvantages. Saving money and a little piece of the planet is nice, but my favorite advantage is that we log some quality family time while making the rounds each day.

Daddy and Mommy go to work, and BBZ goes to daycare - or "school" as we prefer to call it. Since my job requires me to have a car during the day, I am the elected morning driver who safely delivers her men to their destinations. During our travels, we have discussions about everything we see, what we hear, and where we are going.

Every morning we drop Daddy Zog off on campus and about eight hours later we collect him again. The hours of his day are spent in an office, library, or classroom as he reads, writes or teaches. All pretty routine stuff for a PhD student.

However, a few months ago, as we were slowing down at our drop off spot - see photo above - BBZ shouted, "Daddy go to work in the trees!" Hmm. Okay. Sure Buddy, if you say so. But it wasn't a one time observation. Since then, it has become apparent that BBZ fully believes that his Daddy works "in the trees." If you ask him what his Daddy does, the reply will be, "My Daddy works in the trees. Yep, in the trees." It's hilarious! Yes, Daddy Zog's campus is covered in many large, beautiful trees; however, Daddy Zog has never climbed them, manicured them, or studied them. Moreover, BBZ has been to work with his daddy, played in his office and watched him work. And still, the "in the trees" theory persists.

But here is my favorite part: We fully embrace the theory. How precious to be a toddler and have all sorts of wonderful, creative and exciting ideas in your head! Who are we to take that away from him? At this stage, it's not important for him to know what Daddy really does. The daycare director knows where to really find us and that is all that matters. I wish I could climb into my small son's brain and attempt to follow the logic that led him to the conclusion that his Daddy works in the trees. Unfortunately, I'll never know how his little mind brought him to this, but I'm certainly not about to ruin the fun - his and ours - with the truth. Someday he'll know that his daddy is "a doctor, but not the kind who helps people." Someday we'll drive onto campus and his sweet observation won't occur. Someday he won't have any interest at all in where his Daddy works. But until that day, we'll let him enjoy thinking his Daddy is special enough to work in the trees.