Thoughts on Ethan and college and toddlers and fatherhood

I took Ethan on a college visit to Binghamton this week. We got to spend a lot of time together.

He's a smart boy, and he's thoughtful, and rational, and funny, and irreverent, and he has a good heart. You never stop worrying about your kids, but he's going to be okay. I didn't screw him up too badly.

Ethan's primary college decision seems to be big school closer to home vs. little school in the middle of nowhere. Either will be good for him. I do worry about him getting lonely at a small school in the middle of nowhere. I worry about the culture shock, not being able to walk to the deli at 2 AM to get bacon. The evil midwest, where dinner ends at 7.

In other news, the cover of my new book is out. 

The book comes out in October. So we're in that home stretch where the cover comes out, then it shows up on Amazon, then maybe an advance review, etc. It's a very good book, I'm proud of it, and it just reminds me how lucky I am to be a picture book author. Other than fatherhood it's the one thing I've done that most accurately reflects who I am. I've never gotten the same thrill from working at a "real" job--never the same sense of identity. I don't want to be remembered as a media exec. I want to be remembered as a husband and a dad and a picture book author.

A few days ago I stopped by storytime at the book store on Columbus (just long enough that no one was freaked out by the middle-aged man at storytime). I love toddlers. I love the bond between parent and child. I love that being a parent is the most important thing in the universe, and all those parents at storytime are kindred spirits, because they know it too. Being around toddlers makes you think, "The world is actually pretty good."

Yesterday on the way back from Binghamton Ethan and I decided to stop for a bathroom break, and we were near Great Wolf Lodge. It would've been faster just to stop at a gas station, obviously. But I hadn't been there in years, and...I am me, after all.

We walked down to the indoor waterpark entrance, and as soon as we opened the doors there was this familiar smell of water and chlorine and humidity, and we both immediately smiled. Ethan said, "Mmm, I love that smell!" I said, "Me, too, isn't it great?"

It's like fatherhood. I will never get tired of it.