A to Z Challenge: S is for Sand in My Toes

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Sometimes you read a blog that you wish you’d written. Or that your kids would write.

Today on the A to Z Challenge, S is for Sand In My Toes. As in, the blog, by Tarana Khan Siddiqi. Ever read it? She first appeared on the Coach Daddy scene in a comment on Michelle Nahom’s brilliant guest post about sports parents.

Today, Tarana is here to share five parenting lessons she learned from her dad.

She shares with me a background in journalism and content writing, as well as copy editing. She’s an incredible and expressive parent who has written so many poignant posts, especially on toddlers. You’ll love her style as I do.

5 For Friday: Go Ask Daddy About the Periodic Table, Fall Leaves and Naked Ladies

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I was angry today. At lots of things.

Tree pollen. Terrorist brothers. A lost wallet. I internally cursed the olive-skinned man who parked his Mercedes in the fire lane in front of the Harris-Teeter today. Then I cursed myself, also of olive skin, as I rummaged through bags in my trunk looking for my wallet in that grocery store parking lot.

And for cursing the first olive-skinned man in the first place.

I’m not sure whether I cursed the lost wallet, my olive skin, or both.

5 For Friday: Things That Make Me Kinda Angry, But Not Horribly.

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I’m in such a good mood today.

I’m pretty sure it’s the grape energy powder drink I bought at Wal-mart recently. It makes me feel like a champ. Like, literally. I want to fight Mike Tyson.

I just feel generally really good about life, grape magic powder aside.

So it’s kind of odd to finish this post, about five things that generally tick me off. But, I feel so in-tuned and zen-like and champ-like, I can pull it off, even in a good mood.

🤑 5 For Friday: Inventions That Should Have Made Me Rich

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I could’ve been an inventor.

It was the science part I had a problem with. I’ve had ideas the kids even got excited about. Well, OK, one. Another one grossed them out. Madison, in fourth grade, drew a picture of this silly cell phone with a glass surface that you could use as a computer.

Crazy kid. She called it the I-computer, and this is what it could do:

“The new i-computer can go anywhere on the Internet. It is just like a real computer. You can load songs onto it too, instead of going home to load songs, you can load songs on it. It’s a fun, portable computer, and you can fit it in a cellphone holder!”

Froggies? Fireworks? The Day of a Soccer Coach

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My girls have each won soccer championships. They’ve each lost championships, too. Wins and losses? Believe it or not, they’re secondary in the journey.

Why coach? It won’t make me rich. Fame and acclaim? None. My club and recreation soccer positions aren’t my gateways to a gig leading U.S. Soccer into its next era.

It’s for moments. Moments that feel small at the time, but loom larger as time goes on.

Opportunities. Chances when character is revealed.

Five For Friday: The Ways I’ve Failed at Lent

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I’m kind of crappy at being Christian.

I have a lot of the New Testament stuff down pat. I often turn the other cheek. I love you all the way Jesus loves me. I really, really like parables. And Paul’s letters. The dude can write. The old-school stuff gets me, every time, though.

I wear a shirt and tie for Easter, get all reflective when we sing “Silent Night” at Christmas Eve mass, and back when I was a Catholic, I would eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday like a good disciple.

Some areas have proven troublesome for me, in my fifth official decade, B.C. I sometimes root against the New Orleans Saints and Notre Dame. I’d rather eat cookies and play disc golf after church than attend a committee meeting.

5 For Friday: Go Ask Daddy About World Wonders, Holiday Traditions and Foul Language

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I’ve got to do better at this, y’all.

These girls ask great questions. Sometimes, though, it’s not at the most opportune time. Like, in the waning moments of a tense NFL playoff game. Or, while the grill is in full flame. Or, I’ve got both hands on a gorgeous slice of pizza.

I try to jot them down on anything I can get my hands on, but I’m looking at a pile next to my laptop that includes a 2012 Carolina Panthers media guide, a cardboard box of crap I cleaned out from my car on Saturday, and an ESPN the Magazine with a jinxy cover of Colin Kaepernick.

‘What Had Happened Was …’

 

Baby flying squirrels instinctively know how to fly when the time’s right.

A baby viper? He’ll coil up and strike at a young age. And kids know how to spin a story so hard they hope you’ll forget the original question. It’s like, they’re ready for Capitol Hill. Dad’s question: Grace, how did your curtain rod get bent?

I’d noticed it at bedtime, crimped and sagged yet still holding up the drapes.

Did I get a simple answer? This would be the shortest blog I’d ever posted if I did.  No, it went a little like this … Camdyn: So, Hayden and I play this game, when it’s time to clean up. We each have to set our chairs. But, we have to sit upside down, and all twisted up.