Like Home Movies but in Text Form

20 of 40

Hello! I’m Walther, this is Peregrino, and you’re about to read essay #20 of “40 Before 40,” a memoir I intend to finish before I enter midlife.

We’re halfway there, y’all! And as promised, here’s a lighter piece. I’ll leverage Notes I’ve posted in the last few months. This is an experiment, so please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Also, this turned out to exceed the length for email, so in order to read the piece in full, open it in your favorite browser.

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As you may already know, I have four children—ages 7 through 2—so there is never a dull moment in my life. You may be wondering, what do you mean by that? Do you have any specific examples? Luckily for you, I do!

Many people say that having kids changes you, or at least it should, for good, hopefully. I loathe wasting food, which makes me think "The Great Depression" would’ve been just "The Depression" for me.

Thursday night is “leftover night” at Châtelet Cantú unless we have guests for dinner. We want to be health conscious with our food, but sometimes, our picky eaters want mac and cheese (don’t worry, it’s organic). Our oldest, however, has started becoming opinionated regarding particular foods.

My princess, on the other hand, sees food as a love language.

I do love her. I would also love for her to eat more animal fat every meal so she wouldn’t ask for a snack every thirty minutes.

Keeping the house clean with four children is a challenge. On the weekends, we may even vacuum. Invariably, Diana or I will start rage-cleaning the floors when we have had enough of the mess. Not the healthiest of moves, but it gets the job done.

This summer, we made several trips to the community pool, and of course we forgot something on every trip. It’s kind of a tradition now.

I may look like I fell into the pool fully dressed, but guess who didn’t get heat stroke? This guy *points thumbs at himself*.

We went to see “A Hole. A very, very large hole.” for the seventh time.

We celebrated achievements.

And I stopped Diana from spoiling one of the best plot twists in film history.

I try to strike a balance between tender and firm, which means I can be a disciplinarian or a teddy bear, depending on what they did. Sometimes, my methods are slightly unorthodox.

We’ve had several instances where speech had to be regulated. In hindsight, maybe it was too early for them to watch “The Sandlot.”

Now, he makes sure everything is kosher.

Emilio keeps generating comedy gold.

But sometimes, he gets scared.

There was drama as well. Trust was broken.

We haven’t seen the neighbors in a while. And yes, there have been record breaking temperatures for God knows how many consecutive weeks, which makes everyone stay inside, but still, makes me wonder.

Mo Willems’ “Elephant and Piggie” book series is currently banned.

And Oliver has been in a memento mori kick.

Being their dad is challenging and rewarding at the same time. Sometimes, when I’m in the thick of it, it’s hard to see them for the wonderful, funny, and loving kids they are. But now I have Notes that remind me of those fleeting moments that I would otherwise forget if I didn’t jot them down, like home movies but in text form.

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Before you go

I have some questions for you

1. Do you have kids?

2. Do you consider yourself to be “good with kids”?

3. What children’s music artist/band you can’t stand? Mine’s The Wiggles.

4. Which Bluey character do you identify with?

5. What’s the best children’s book from your childhood?