January 28, 2004 - Wednesday
We got a couple inches of light, fluffy snow today. It was the kind of snow that you can just run a shovel through and slide for about as long as you want and the kind of snow that is just about as easy to shovel as to plow with the tractor. It was also the kind of snow that is almost not worth moving, but since we're having guests over this weekend I figure it'd be better to stay diligent about keeping the driveway clear than risking it melting and re-freezing as ice or slush. So, I went out after dinner to plow. That is, I would have plowed, but Harry wanted to go out in the snow after dinner, too, so I stayed with the shovel.

Of course, Harry wanted to shovel, too, but that usually means playing with the snow with his little red shovel and that's what I expected. Instead, Harry actually helped shovel the driveway, which, as mentioned, generally consisted of running behind the shovel and pushing the snow to the edge of the driveway. Sure, that'd be fun for a kid, too, but Harry suck with it, orderly pushing the snow in rows to clear the driveway, almost the entire time I was out there and actually did help shovel the driveway to the extent that it took less time than had I done it myself.

Now, I suppose it's rather cliché to say that a father appreciates help from the son shoveling the driveway. I joke regularly about hoping this sort of initiative, be it mowing the lawn, vacuuming, or whatever, lasts another 14 years. But, having Harry help shovel the snow was wonderful for a little different reason. This was a little one-on-one bonding time, and that's never a bad thing. Neither is doing things together. Yet, as we worked, and as Harry seemed to take pride in doing the work and helping me do the work, it occurred to me that we were doing something together that didn't involve Harry's toys or games or even something that Harry really wanted to do. Harry was diligently joining me in do something rather than me doing something with him or Harry just tagging along for a trip to the dump or some other errand of mine (although, those sorts of things can be very fun, too). In a sense, Harry was trying to play one of my "games" with me and I suppose that shouldn't be of much of a surprise. As much as it can seem like being a parent is all about doing what the kids want to do, I think in a real way the kids are really most interested in doing things together and being with their parents. It's just that they can't do very many adult activities very well and perhaps as parents we're not patient enough to teach them.


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