New Toys for the Office

Grace and Kate were shopping with their mother at the Dollar Tree and they bought some new toys for my office. I frequently have children accompany their parents to my office and toys have become a necessary component of my law practice. Grace is trying out one of the new puzzles that is now a part of my supply. She told me that everyone but Kate can play with the new toys. Poor Kate- Grace thinks she is still too little to trust with any new toy!

Death and Dying

As an estate planner, I frequently have to discuss the topics of death and disability. These topics can be extremely uncomfortable for people (and on top of that I ask people to pay me for the privilege of this discussion). I recently learned a good lesson from my four year old about the fear of dying. First, just a few days ago (and totally out of the blue), she told me “Daddy, I don’t want you to get killed.” I replied “me neither” and we had no more to say about that topic.

Just a few days later, Grace told me that she had to tell me something. She put her hands on my cheeks and said “Daddy, I love you. Will you promise something? When you die and are in heaven, you watch me, ok. I will be old when I get there, but when I get there we can love each other forever and ever, ok?“

I was of course a little surprised and had an immediate dread that something was coming for me and this was my omen. She then made me laugh when she said, “write it down ok, so you don’t forget.”

After some reflection I learned a lesson from Grace. She is too young to harbor all the fears and concerns our society has about death. Perhaps it is something (especially those of us who are Christians) should feel comfortable discussing and perhaps we should even embrace it. By the way, Grace, I will watch you.

Play Date

Grace often calls our time together at my office a “play date” and that she loves having them with me. She also really likes to write and draw on my letterhead (I know, it is an expensive piece of scratch paper for her). She asked me if I could order her some letterhead, which could be pretty funny, especially for letters to opposing counsel.

Keep Me Busy

Grace really enjoys working with me in my office. At my home office, she has her own little desk and chair. When she comes with me to my business office, she has her own lap top and a stack of coloring books on my shelf. The last time she was at my business office, she became a little frustrated because she did not have much to do. She pleaded with me “Daddy, keep me busy. I need to be busy!” One day she may understand that not being busy can be an incredible blessing!

Goldfish

I never thought that goldfish would be such an important part of my law practice. When I refer to goldfish, I am not talking about the actual fish, but rather the tasty little cracker. I often take my daughters to my office. Mrs. Barbara (who is the office assistant for my landlord) always has a supply of goldfish, which are especially for kids. My girls have certainly caught on to the plan. On one of our last visits, Grace asked for a snack and I told her we had none. She responded "you have goldfish, you always have goldfish at your office." Her younger sister even gets into the game, for every time she comes to my office she stands in the lobby and cries "I wan cacker." [sic] Thank goodness for goldfish. I could not practice law without them.

Grace Should Write Greeting Cards

I have some new artwork in my office (see below). It was Grace's "work" one day when she was spending some time with me. The picture depicts Grace and me. There are also two stickers on the paper: a heart and a smiley face. Grace actually had a specific reason for these two stickers and I quote:

"I put the heart on because I love you and the smiley face because I smile every time I see you."

Working With Daddy