My Dad, The Superhero

by Tara Pringle Jefferson

When I was younger, I lost things. A lot.

Sometimes it was my homework, my book bag, my shoes, my show-and-tell object that I just HAD to show everyone at school. If it was something I really needed, then magically it was missing.

I would tear up the house looking for whatever it was. In the midst of my frenzy, my dad would look up from reading the paper.

“What are you looking for, big girl?”

“My ___,” I’d say, on the verge of tears.

He’d carefully fold the paper, get up, walk across the room, and kiss me on the forehead. “Well, it’s gotta be here somewhere, right? You go to bed. I’ll look for it. You’ll have it in the morning.”

And every morning after he effectively erased all my worry, I’d wake up and see whatever it was I’d been searching for.

He found it.

I learned later that sometimes it was an easy find (between the couch cushions) but sometimes it took all night (well, a few hours). But it didn’t matter. My dad always came through.

I used to look at my daddy in awe. He was like a superhero and his magic talent was finding my homework in the backseat of the car when I swore I brought it in the house.

I write this post to say that sometimes we as parents worry about the big things – making enough money, living in the right neighborhood, spending enough time with our kids. Without a doubt, those things are important.

But let’s not forget all those little reasons – your knack for imitating any cartoon voice, your special blueberry pancakes, or the fact that you always read your kids a bedtime story even when you’re dog tired – that your kids think you’re a superhero.

Tara Pringle Jefferson is a freelance writer and blogger living in Ohio with her husband and two children. Visit her blog, www.theyoungmommylife.com, to read more of her observations about life, motherhood and love.


About the author

Tara Pringle Jefferson is managing editor of BlackAndMarriedWithKids.com. She’s also the author of Make It Happen: The Young Mommy Guide To Creating The Career You Crave. Follow her on Twitter or check out her blog for her insights on what it means to be a mom, wife, student, writer, and about three other labels she’s too tired to remember.



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  • Reggie Williams

    GREAT post. life really is about those small things!!!

  • http://twitter.com/LamarTyler Lamar Tyler

    Exactly. This is a great reminder that what’s often important to us and what’s important to our children are two different things.

  • GeeGee4

    Girl, this near and dear to my heart because my dad was and still is My Man of Steel….lol I know for a fact that you are telling the truth. My father and mother were amazing parents but dwell on the little things more so like for example..My dad has a big chest (like a football player) lol and to this day I believe it to be magical…Anytime I have anything on my mind from relationships, kids, or job issues when I hug my daddy, that chest pulls everything out…lol Most of the time, not on purpose.. Just magic/God… I think about that more than the two jobs he worked for our family…….Message!!!