The only thing your child ask from you is your TIME. They don’t care about money. They just want your TIME.
My daughter asked me to go to Botanic Gardens with her this morning. She just wanted to have a picnic with me, she said. So, we went and spent about 3 hours there. We sat down, we ran, we played, we walked and we talked. Just that. And oh .. ice cream and cold drink too as we both were so thirsty. So, see above, the daddy and his daughter having picnic at Botanic Gardens, shot with Panasonic GF1 and 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens.
Children are the best! They are lovely, they are simple and they are very forgiving. They will still love you even if you don’t have time.
Allow me to share this inspirational story. Some of you may have already read it before. I couldn’t find who the original author was, so if you know, please share.
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door. “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?
“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”
The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.
After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked.
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.
“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.
“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
And last but not least, it’s lovely when you get something simple from your child. They can’t buy you an iPad, but they can give you their love. That’s me, by the way, with my new hair style.
If you read this on your computer, or your iPad or iPhone or other gadget now, stop it now and go call your children, go talk to them or go play with them.
Hi there, I just came across your blog and was very taken by this post. I have a little daughter too and I just love how she interacts with her Daddy. It certainly sounds like you share a lovely father-daughter bond with yours 🙂
Hi Corsage, thanks for your comment. Happy to hear that your daughter loves spending time with her daddy too. 🙂
Take care.
this is a very cute, endearing image. reminds me of the shoes of my brother (who is over 6 feet tall) and my niece, who recently just turned 2.