For any parents struggling out there, I would like to share a story with you.
Tonight, while Bea was doing her 15-minute potty routine, she asked when fall was. That evolved into a much more elaborate conversation about seasons, and why they exist. So I used the bedside lamp to represent the sun, some balls to represent the planets, and started to explain the solar system. After about 5 minutes of that - and even though I'd previously told Bea there would be no stories because she got extra TV time - I told her we could use the computer to look at the planets, because she was just so interested in learning more. So she and Margot eagerly brushed their teeth (no arguing) and ran to Bea's bed, where I set up the laptop.
While Bea sat at the foot of her bed, I lay across it, and Margot nuzzled up against me and gazed at the screen, I pulled up NASA images of each individual planet and a video explaining the actual sizes of solar system objects and their distance from each other. And then for the next 25 minutes (well past bedtime), I guided them through the diagrams and then the photos.
Bea loved Saturn best because of its rings, but she also loved saying Jupiter's name ("juney"), and was constantly asking where Pluto was. She didn't want it to be left out.
With Bea happily asking questions and Margot cuddling the entire time, tonight was every bit the family bedtime I hoped to deliver as a father - in the years before either of them existed. Bea and Margot may not remember this a year or two from now, but I will. I will keep it close to my heart.
The reason I share this is because it is seldom easy being a mother or a father. Oftentimes the struggle to care for, shelter, supervise, feed, and entertain your kids saps you of the energy to actually be with them in the moment. But, once in a while, you do get to be the parent you always wanted to be. It feels like home, and you all get to share that together.
The solar system is big. Home is where you feel close to each other.