While Miles’s typical aversion to bedtime involves yelling, roughhousing, and general loopiness, last night he silently sat up well past his bedtime as he meticulously tried to fashion a tool belt (due to his recent obsession with this guy) out of random objects in his room. While I 1) knew he was never going to be able to achieve what he was attempting given the items in front of him and 2) really wanted him to go to sleep, as I sat there and watched him I grew less and less inclined to force him to call it a night. He fiddled with his project with complete focus, undeterred when something didn’t work out and trying new approaches, and it was frankly pretty inspiring to see the burgeoning creative process at work and, maybe most importantly, how undaunted he was as he attempted new combinations. After a while, he agreed that it was time to give it a break and go to bed.
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 