Motorbikes by My Daughter

Being a father of three, I am used to being surprised by my kids. Normally, the surprises come in the heart thumping, OMG-what-are-you-doing?!? variety but every now and again, I do get a pleasant surprise. I was enjoying a long overdue lie-in on the weekend when my daughter and son jumped on my bed and excitedly proclaimed that they had a surprise for me.

I was half-expecting the kids to show me an origami swan or a leaping frog since they've been glued to videos of origami-making on YouTube over the past few days. Yay. Trying to be a good father, I managed to contain the urge to blurt out Getoutofmybed Kids! and calmly said...

A surprise? For me...?

Thankfully, my kids aren't old enough to detect the sacrcasm that oozed from my short sentence.

Yes, see Daddy. I made you a book.

A book? That leaping frog would've been way cooler and would've been worth waking up to see, no matter how crumpled. But, a book?

Once again, reminding myself of my fatherhood duties, I rubbed my eyes, stretched and somehow found the energy to sit up.

See Daddy. It's a story of you.

I focused my eyes on the pocket-size "book" and found myself smiling away at the story my daughter had written. So proud am I of the little yellow book that I'd like to share it here with all of you. Here's how it goes:

My daughter's interpretation of my Vespa scooter. Simple yet still easily recognsiable. She doesn't consider my Vespa a scooter because scooters to her are skateboard-with-handles scooters that she has. Daddy's ride is therefore a motorbike.  Also, notice the lightning at the top of the scooter. That's to show how fast the Vespa goes - like a flash. Really. Hahaha...

Of course,  my Green Vespa is by no means big but from an 8-year-old's perspective, it's probably the baddest and meanest thing on the road. It's nice to know that my daughter understands how much I enjoy going about on my Vespa. Woohoo!

This is where the story turns into fiction. What is heartening (and quite astonishing) is how much my daughter understands her Daddy. The red bike she is referring to is a Ducati Monster which has been a recent object of my desire. Well, I'll just keep on dreaming...

Another piece of fiction. A blue bike was chosen to complete the RGB light colour spectrum set. I'll have to figure out what I want as a third bike now. Just in case I come across a dollop of cash. Three sounds better than two anyway.

Thanks for making my day, Ameera. Your book certainly beats the crap out of the leaping origami frog. Daddy loves you loads...