What kind of day would you think I had if I told you I spent the evening running after my kid, and cleaning up one mess after another? Would you believe me if I told you it was damn near perfect?

I’m wicked tired, but it’s worth it.

As usual, I rolled out of the office at 3:30, picked up Adam, and got back to the house a little after four. He helped me get the laundry started, then I helped him work up a sweat in the back yard – playing our own version of one-on-one soccer. There aren’t any rules, other than ‘don’t stop.’ After a brief cool down, we heated up some left-overs for dinner.

“Look dad, I’ve got a beard!”

“Are you sure that’s a beard, it looks like mashed potatoes.”

I know I shouldn’t encourage him to play with his food (Cheryl would probably kill me), but it seemed so funny (that or I was feeling a little punchy from the heat stroke).

Then it was off to the tub, and my latest attempt at rebranding the bath, to make it seem fun. The last few nights he’s been hip to the hybrid “shower-bath.” We washed off the beard, decided on a new name for his rubber duck (Rupert), cleaned up dinner, cycled the laundry, made the beds, and collapsed in the family room for a little down time – me with my PowerBook and Adam with his crayons. He had a new word to add to his list tonight: “Look dad, R-A-Y-S spells Rays! I like the Rays, just like you dad.”

It was a pretty good day.