This morning I got up early. I needed to be at the hospital to pray before a surgery. I also woke Meg up, since she was teaching PDO, and we went through our sleepy eyed routine. Mumbling. After getting dressed, I closed my door and walked down the dark hall. As is all too common I stumbled over something in the hallway. Thankfully it was not a roller skate to send me tumbling down the stairs. But it also wasn’t a stuffed animal. So I flipped the light and there was Phoebe asleep on the carpet.

I started to carry her back to bed, but she woke up. There are many differences between adults and three-year-olds. For one I needed to change Phoebe’s diaper, since her potty training does not last the night! But after being tripped over and awoken and changed, Phoebe was happy to see me.

Her smile was big and she cuddled into me for a hug. Back in bed, I told her where I was going and she said – without a hint of adult irony – “I will miss you daddy.”

So I went back for another hug.

And I wondered if I could ever greet Megan this way – rather than my mumbling grumpiness.