Is This Mike On?

Normally, I would pass him by and move on to my other duties. After all, it’s his responsibility and he needs to complete it on time or else. That’s what they teach you in Taskmaster 101.

You realize they talk about you, dads. And not always in a good way.

For the longest time, they wouldn’t talk to us.

I look up and see them talking on the couch.
My 12-year-old son on one side and Andrew on the other.

The middle daughter is above all this, operating her iTouch somewhere else in the house. Not many words are spoken because we’re all staring at some screen, lost inside the virtual world.

At my house, I look the other way when my son flings cotton swabs in the general vicinity of the garbage can. At your house, I carefully monitor the bathroom every 15 minutes for anything out of place.

We didn’t climb a mountain together. Or work in a soup kitchen side by side.

We didn’t share an in-depth conversation or kick up some fall leaves during a long walk.