I’m not sure if it’s coming off clearly in these posts, but I certainly hope it is.  Having time like this away from home and with my wife busy gives me great opportunity to really connect with my daughter.  Attachment Parenting is a great thing, and I truly believe it is an optimal way to raise a child.  But, those of you who’ve tried it know that the majority of the attachment is to Mommy as long as nursing continues.  That makes it a little difficult for Daddy to connect with the kidlette when Mommy’s nearby.  At least in my experience, it doesn’t take my little one long to “settle” for me and be very pleasant, playful, and happy to hang out with me.  Get Mommy back in the picture and I am suddenly persona non grata.  I won’t lie – this has been the hardest thing for me since day one.  It was about a year ago that I started putting her to bed instead of Mommy – and that’s made a huge difference (also, the maturing over the last year has too.)

On Saturday of the Conference, we attended 3 more sessions.  I’ll briefly highlight one, then more deeply cover the other.  One session was “The Gift of Being a Flawed Parent,” by Lu Hanessian (who’s a pretty well known author in her own right.)  Her presentation was very polished and enjoyable, and she covered the biggest problem I have – being too hard on myself, which may make me have too high of expectations for my children.

The afternoon session (following lunch and hanging out while my daughter napped again) was “The Mamas and the Papas” and was presented by seasoned LLLeader Theresa Kinzley.  The session was on the key differences between males and females – be they babies, toddlers, children, or adults. That’s the beauty of being involved in such a counter-cultural organization.  I’m valued for my unique contributions as a father and someone is willing to take the time to <gasp!> talk about how real those differences are.  In the popular culture, of course, we are all “equal,” so thanks to radical feminism, we are all “the same” by extension.  That means dads are unnecessary (except as sperm donors.)  But here, we can have an open and honest discussion about how differences exist and how we complement each other.  Theresa also gave a recommendation for a book I had been trying to get my wife interested in reading, Love and Respect, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.  Yes, he’s an evangelical, but his message is solid and logical.  I’m sure that’ll become a topic for a later post.

We had the privilege of attending Mass over at St. Paul’s in Cleveland.  They have a beautiful church that’s only a few years old.  Even at Saturday Vigil they had 6 altar servers, 2 acolytes, a deacon, and a priest.  At the Gospel reading, the servers processed about 3 rows up the center aisle with the missal and candles, and the deacon came out to that point to read.  After the prayer following communion, the priest walked up the center aisle and back down, personally greeting each family seated in the pews, welcoming those who were visiting, and asking visitors where they were from.  When he got to us, he thought we were familiar.  I told him we’d never been here before, and he asked us what we were doing in town.  I told him, and he said, “Great, glad you’re here!” and then asked the guy one aisle in front of us if he knew anything about the organization in which we were involved…the gentleman said no, and the priest responded, “I’ll tell you about it later.”  In the vestibule following Mass, Father asked me to clarify exactly what the organization that we’re involved in does.  When my wife and I explained, he said, “That’s an organization for which I would like to be chaplain!”

The following day was packing day for me and my daughter as my wife was in a special session for prospective leaders.  It took a while, but once we were done, we headed into Helen to check out some of the shops and sample a little fudge at the candy kitchen (just don’t tell my wife!)

I know these have been some long posts, but I am trying to express my feelings and thoughts coming out of a truly parentally – empowering weekend while they’re still fresh.  I’m sure there are readers who think I am nuts for supporting this whole AP thing and that’s okay, but I know it is capable of producing kids with self control and spirit because I saw them running around at the conference!