Some things are simple. Some things are without ambiguity. Black or white. Right or wrong.
And this is wrong...
They lied to me. They looked me in the face and straight-up lied.
I asked a very direct question: "Do you promise Daddy that you will never grow up?" Their response? "Yes, Daddy. We promise!" Sure, there was tickling and giggling and ice cream involved, but that doesn't negate the fact that they made a promise. A very important promise!
And I don't want to hear all this nonsense about the fact that they were only 2 and 3 years old respectively at the time. Who cares. If they were old enough to do pinky swears, then they were old enough to tell the truth.
But they didn't tell the truth.
They're growing up.
They're growing up faster than I could have imagined.
Now they do stupid grown-up things like shake hands and pick out their own clothes. I hear them using words like immigration and advertisement. They routinely trounce me in video games, and they've taken over the remote control. No one asks my opinion anymore, they ask Google. Spelling out words I don't want them to hear is no longer an option because they had the audacity to learn how to read years ago. Sydney was singing a Bruno Mars song the other day, and Michael was wearing cologne. BRUNO MARS! COLOGNE!
They lied to me and I still haven't gotten over it. They're getting big when all I want them to do is stay little. They're learning about the world when all I want to do is protect them from it. They need me less with each new day, but with each new day I think I need them more.
Time is winning. I guess I can't stop that. But at least I have this one comfort: when they grow up and start families of their own, they won't leave me. They'll stay close to home. I know it's true because I made them promise.
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