The Best Kind of Day

I spent a recent afternoon with my kids. It was good, Ms J. Real good. I picked up Meagan at noon and we headed over to Dan’s place. We planned to have lunch together first, then surprise Dan by buying him a new cell phone. Dan had asked if Sarah might come along, but Meagan resisted.

“I don’t really want Sarah to come, Dad. I mean, I like her and all. She’s one of my best friends. But I kinda wanted it to be just you and me and Dan today. Just the Pringles, you know?”

I often encourage my daughter to speak her mind and state her desires. Today was one of those days.

“Tell Sarah how you feel, then, Scout. Speak your Truth and be gentle. You have the right to ask for anything you want. But remember, you don’t have the right to get angry if your needs are not always met.”

I waited in the car while she went off to fetch her brother. After a few minutes, they returned. Sarah had agreed to stay home this time and allow us some private family time.

“Yeah,” said Dan as he slid the seat forward to allow Meagan in the back. “She was a bit disappointed, but she understood.”

We went off to the mall where we had lunch. After lunch, I turned to Meagan.

“Tell him, Meagan. Tell him about the surprise.”

Dan waited while Meagan gathered her thoughts.

“Well, me and Dad rolled some coins at his place a while ago. There was about four hundred bucks.”

Dan hooked his thumb in his long hair, drew it back away from his face, and fixed it behind his ear.

“Yeah?” he said.

Meagan continued.

“Yeah, and we decided we should ... well, Dad decided he should ... BUY YOU A NEW CELL PHONE!”

Dan’s face lit up.

“Really?” he said.

“Yup,” said his sister proudly. “Really.”

And so we did. We priced phones at a couple of stores and I let Dan choose the model he wanted. He was very happy, Ms J. Very happy indeed. And he thanked me for it.

“That’ll be your birthday present, Dan,” I told him. “It’s a bit early, but I know you needed a phone.”

Actually, Ms J, I’m happy too. Now I can contact him whenever I want.

We took the boy home to Sarah afterward and then Meagan and I returned to Mimico where she spent the entire evening downloading music to her iPod. She was ecstatic when I took her home.

“I have, like, the coolest iPod ever, Dad. Can you believe it? I have eight hundred and thirty four songs on here now. All my favourite music. Thanks for this.”

And she lunged at me and threw her arms around me.

“It was a good day, wasn’t it Dad?”

“It was a brilliant day,” I said. “I spent some time with both of my kids and saw both of them happy. That’s the best kind of day there is.”

Yup. That's the best kind of day there is.

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