Sounds from the garage...

The S trio had a great time at Bean's afternoon kindergarten orientation. It was a very energetic environment, well planned out (which thrills us Type A folk), extremely interactive and showed a lot of hope for our kids. My baby isn't a baby now. As we walked up to the school, she was grinning from ear to ear and I felt my heart growing. The absolute joy on her face was enough to squash the sadness in my heart. As much as I'm going to fall apart on that first day, and as much as I want to freeze time (right now!), I'm so excited for her.

After a spectacular day of orientation and errands as a family (a very rare event), I hear Brad shuffling the vehicles around. I'm unloading the groceries and I hear "Hey, change your clothes and come on out here." - then Bean takes off running down the hall. She comes back out to the kitchen to ask if her clothing selection is 'okay to get grease on', she smiles and heads out to the garage. Okay, what are they doing?

I, very quietly, open the door and see that they're changing the oil on the Mazda. Brad's telling her what tools to get out, where the rags and sprays are and what he needs. She's galloping around the garage like a happy gazelle, sporting green and purple safety glasses.



"Alright, lay on the creeper."
Under she slides, glasses on, flashlight in hand, listening more closely than I've ever seen her do.

My heart sounds like a train.

I could sit for hours and listen to them talk. It's great to watch him teach her things, even if it's about grease, wrenches, o-rings, brake cleaner and torque at age 5.

He says "You're gonna need to know how to do all this, one day this car will be yours. I'll help you if you need it, but a car is a big responsibility."
And she answers with "Yes, Daddy."

Parts were loosened, oil filter removed, oil drained, parts cleaned, ring greased, new filter on, oil in, etc, etc.

"Okay, grab the air hose. Let's rotate these tires." 
"Wow, these are heavy, Dad. Hold on, there's a big rock in here I want to remove."

He sits back on his heels and just watches her.

He adores & loves her so much.

He honestly never wanted a boy, he wanted to make his girl a kick-ass female. "I'm the only man she'll ever call for help. I want to make sure she can take care of herself."

Yes, he's attached. 

She's our life. Our joy. We're so excited to help her stand on her own feet and take on the world.

Only 12 days until she's officially a kindergartener, and I know it's going to be the hardest, and one of the best, days for all of us.