I went to see him. I had sworn him off but something about him always draws me back. Maybe it’s his laid back approach to life, his unconditional love for his daughter or his confidence but it’s something.

He and I got into a discussion about our children. He told me about a time his daughter out-parented him. She had forgotten part of her gear to go climbing. He spent some time trying to get her to explain why she’d forget something she knew she needed. She said, “I just did. Now, do you want to keep talking about it or go do something.”

He remembers thinking that she was right, and it made no sense to keep berating her over something they couldn’t change at the moment. In retrospect, he sees how wise his daughter was for bringing him out of a moment when he could have lingered in anger or seized the moment to find something fun to do. So he chose the latter because of his daughter’s simple response, “I just didn’t.”

As he talked about it, I realized that there was a certain beautiful wisdom our children impart, if we just listen to them.  My mother would have thought the child was mouthing off, but like Mr. OAOF said our children understand things so simply and without complication.

My only real contribution to his thought was that children are uncomplicated until the world complicates them. He reminded me that I need to take more time to just enjoy the wisdom of my daughter.  This guy always teaches me something.