Braden’s Papa

That my name around here. It seems like all the kids on the island know Braden and they know me as “Braden’s Papa.” Today one of the boys called me that. “Hey Braden’s Papa.” Its so funny. Braden seems to be pretty popular among the boys his age. When we walk to the shops, it seems like every kid says hi to him and acknowledges is presence. Well we are staying very busy with school, work and new friends.

Last night we had a couple come to our house at about 9:30 p.m. and stayed until after 11:00 p.m. We love visiting with friends. Tonight, one of my friends came by to visit at about 6:30 p.m. and dinner was almost ready. We invited him in and he ate dinner with us. The culture is very different, but I think we have adapted fine.

We have a family meeting in our house every week. We come together as a family, sing, read and study together. It is fun encouraging the kids to read and its a lot of fun singing together. We pump the ipod into the stereo and and even put words on the TV screen.

Ok, one more thing. You cant tell Braden I wrote about this, but I think its pretty funny and you might enjoy it. You know how fathers and sons constantly mess with each other? Well, Braden has started sneaking up behind me and putting me in a headlock. He thinks its so funny. It takes me about 2 seconds to get out of it and he usually finds himself on the floor. Since I really dont want to hurt him, I taught him the “tap out” rule. If you dont know about this rule, it is when guys are wrestling for fun, and one is kind of hurting the other one, he can tap the other person with a sign indicating, “this hurts, let me go NOW!” So we started this “tap out” thing, but I have now modified it. I make him suck his thumb. Its so funny, I put him in a hold and say, “suck your thumb.” He tries to hold out as long as he can, but he ends up sucking his thumb. Dont think I’m a mean father. He loves it and usually cant get his thumb in his mouth because he is laughing too hard. Bottom line is, when he punches me in the gut or puts me in a headlock, he knows its going to end with him sucking his thumb. Oh the joy of being Braden’s Papa.