Letter from a desperate daughter

Long car rides have gotten easier as the kids have gotten older - they can handle longer stretches without stopping. On the other hand, they seem to pester each other more, too. The usual sibling rivalry, I guess. On one recent (and particularly long) trip, our daughter, after getting fed up with her brother, penned us a letter and discretely 'delivered' it to us in the front seats. I simply HAD to share. Even the artwork was adorable (Finn's angry eyes)...

Jeremiah has turned into a poop, a meany and a grump. He is covering his ears and going 'la la la la la' so he cannot hear me. Make him stop.
Your desperate daughter,
Finn

A daughter's poem to her father

Recent father-daughter date night.

Our kids love, love, LOVE to steal our sticky Post-It Notes from our work desk. It doesn't matter how well we hide them, they always seem to find and abscond with them. Tucked behind a pile of papers? Behind books on the bookshelf? On top of the desk out of sight and reach? Yep. Found it. Been there and stole them. Those rascals! It's become a game to them...not so much for us. So now we've just taken to just purchasing an extra stack of sticky notes when we need to restock the office supplies. Problem solved.

Except for notes stuck all over the house labeling what belongs to them, what not to move, smiley faces to bring cheer, scribbles to designate secret spots, what-have-you. Guess they've taken after their mummy - which is a good thing - who leaves little love notes tucked around the house for me to find and get a warm heart over. I love it.

Anyway, a few days ago our daughter - who is REALLY into spelling and reading right now - pulled out her stack of sticky notes and proceeded to scribble away, hiding from all prying eyes what she was writing. Until she delivered me a note - a love poem from her to me. In her words it was

'Words about you that I love. There's WAAAY more than this. These are just my favorites.'

I...was moved to tears. and I could see in her gleaming eyes and facial expressions - as she watched me, searched my face and body language for my reaction - the excitement and knowledge and warmth that her Papa loves her deeply. It was incredibly moving for us both. So without further ado, Finn's poem to me:

Papa:

Joking.

Reeding.

Silly.

Helpful.

Loving.

Happy.

Papa.

Love, Finn.

I do believe I'll be keeping this note for all of my lifetime...

Hamming it up on the ice.

Bright eyes.