Dear Clare: Don't Hate Me

I don’t usually write directly to Clare in this blog, but I do intend for her to read most of this someday. This may be a post that she’ll need to see.

Dear Clare,

A few months ago, I wrote a post about the “lasts” in kids’ lives that parents sometimes never notice or even realize is a last. I was talking about the last time that things happen—like the last diaper, the last bottle or sippy cup, or the last time that kids crawl into their parents’ bed. These things are far overshadowed by “firsts” like words, steps, or teeth. You, your Mom and I passed another last sometime in the past year. If I’m lucky, you’ll never notice until you read this post.

Someday, if and when you have kids, you may understand. It’s not that I don’t respect your stuff; I do. It’s not that I wanted to upset you either; I would never purposefully do that. Your Mom would tell you that I’m just overly anal about throwing things out and getting rid of clutter; she’s right. But it’s also that I couldn’t risk that those things would come out again.

In the past year, we’ve had great fun playing games like Clue Jr., Monopoly Jr., and Sorry. You can count, read, follow rules, and even strategize now. Don’t misunderstand that I didn’t have lots of fun playing games with you when you were three or four years old; I did and I often miss that age. But there are things about toddler games that are really mind-numbing for adults—that’s what I’m sure you’ll understand someday. That’s also why, when you were out of the house, I got rid of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and Hi Ho Cherry-O. I just couldn’t risk that you’d pull them out from under your bed some night and want to play them again. We had our last time playing—whenever that may have been—and I can’t go back. If you ever notice them gone and miss them, I hope you’ll forgive me.

Love, Dad

P.S. Just in case you don’t notice, the Dora DVDs are the next thing to go.