MIKEY: Archive of Much About Mikey Posts

Thursday, January 19, 2006
In memory of your great-grandmother

Dear Mikey,
Your great-grandmother (daddy's nana) passed away last night. You never got to meet her but she saw your photos and knew about you and was happy.

Daddy is a little sad today but he's overcoming those feelings with the thought that nana was 92, lived a long life, and was a very tough and strong person.

Your great-grandma faced many difficult times in her life but always persevered. She raised your papa and his three brothers practically by herself during tough times and was always able to take care of them.

Daddy will tell you more stories about nana when you're old enough and want to know more about your family. For now, just know that she loved you and was very happy for mommy and daddy.

It was a great comfort to daddy to be able to hug you last night after he found out about his nana. You always make daddy smile and remember that love always makes everything feel better.

So, thank you. I Love You always.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Applause! Applause!

Ah, the sweet sound of applause. The sound of two hands clapping can be music to my ears. Especially when that sound is coming from my nine-month-old son.

Mikey learned how to clap this weekend. Now, he had been doing his own version of clapping for a while. It was really cute to see how he interpreted the way that adults were clapping. But this weekend he started clapping for real and it was so amazing it made me smile so much it hurt my face.

I love the little sound that his hands make as he claps. The gentle tap, tap of his fingers touching is breathtaking. Maybe this is mushy or not a big deal to a lot of people but to me it's priceless.

I will do all I can to give Mikey many, many things to clap about in his life. :-)

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Mikey's First Christmas

So, Mikey, your first Christmas has come and gone. I wish you could tell me in words what you thought about it but I think I could tell from your reactions that you were excited, overwhelmed, and toward the end of the night, exhausted. All in all, I think you had a fun and happy day and that makes your daddy very happy.

Mommy and daddy wanted to make your first Christmas (as we will for every Christmas) a very special time. It gave your daddy great joy and extra inspiration to think of all the ways to express the love of Christmastime to you. You're a little too young to understand about the Christ part of Christmas but next year I'll try to explain it to you. So, this year, you found out about the giving and generosity of the season.

You (and mommy) also gave daddy a really cool gift that he's going to use in coming posts. I love the journal with all of it's inspiring questions about being a father and how to live life. I can't wait to fill in the answers for you.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Yes, Mikey, There is a Santa Claus

I've always loved the famous "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" letter (I've included it at the end of this post) because it does give me hope every year when I feel a lack of the Christmas Spirit. With Mikey's first Christmas approaching I began thinking about this letter again and I wanted to write my own version for him. So...

Yes, Mikey, There is a Santa Claus

My Dearest Mikey,
Your daddy has often wondered, long before he became a daddy, what he would tell you about Santa Claus. You see, your daddy had forgotten what Santa Claus was really about and how much Santa loves children.

As you experience your first Christmas I want to tell you, yes, Mikey, there is a Santa Claus and he LOVEs you too.

As you get older you'll see Santa Claus in different ways (much as daddy has). But I want you to always remember the spirit of Santa because that is what is so easy to forget when you become a grownup like daddy.

Now everyone knows that Santa brings children gifts but that's not what makes Santa so great, Mikey. The secret of Santa is LOVE and as I will always try to teach you, LOVE is the greatest thing in the world.

You'll learn that you can express LOVE in many different ways and that people will LOVE you in different ways too. Mommy and daddy's love for you is unending, unlimited, and grows stronger every day. Nana and a lot of other people LOVE you too and as you grow up you'll experience even more people who will LOVE you and who you'll LOVE too.

But the spirit of Santa's LOVE is different. He LOVEs all the children. And his LOVE inspires many people to treat other children and grownups with LOVE, and compassion, and respect. Santa inspires a feeling of generosity, selflessness, and goodwill.

Daddy had put his thoughts of Santa far back in his mind because as a grownup he thought he didn't need to think about Santa much. But, Mikey, never forget about what Santa means. And never let your children and their children forget. Because the world needs the spirit of Santa's LOVE. The goodness of Santa makes the world a better place and that's something important all-year round and not just at Christmas.

And so, my sweet child, as you celebrate your first Christmas, I wish you joy, peace, and LOVE, and I wish that you never forget the spirit of Santa because...yes, Mikey, there is a Santa Claus.

*********************************************
Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? -- Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Monday, August 01, 2005
My Favorite Teacher

Our son Mikey, is just about four-months-old as I write this. These past 16-plus weeks have been (as any parent would acknowledge) tiring, challenging, but more worth it than I could ever describe.

Mikey has become my greatest teacher. I went to college and had many interesting classes and many good teachers but Mikey has taught me so much more than any book could.

Mikey's lessons often take place when I'm really tired or late at night when everyone else is sleeping. Mikey's lessons teach about strength and what love really is.

There's been many a night where it was late and I'd, normally, much rather be in bed sleeping. But it's time for Mikey to be changed and to have a bottle and that is the most important thing in the world then. The strength to go past your tiredness and everything else around you and to take care of another human being is something that some people might not ever know they have. Mikey brings out that strength in me.

Mikey has greater defined the meaning of love too. A baby his age can communicate in limited ways but when I get one of Mikey's smiles or when I feel him lay his head down on my shoulder I get his message loud and clear. Someday he'll be old enough to understand and to say "I Love You" in words but he already says it to me every day in other ways and that's the greatest joy I have in the world.

I could write for pages every day of the things that Mikey does or the way he makes me feel. But, for now, I'd just rather go back and look at his smile again.