By Michael Eng | Managing Editor
When my wife and I decided we would leave our posts at Observer Media Group headquarters to open the Plant City Observer earlier this year, we knew not every piece of an extremely complex puzzle would fall into place at the same time.
Not only were we charged with launching and operating a new publication, website and social-media campaign, but also we faced moving our entire lives — and our two children — to a new community. Where would the kids go to school? What do we do with our old home? What do we do for a new home? What about our doctors, mechanic, pest control guy, etc.?
But one-by-one, all of those pieces snapped into place, and today, as you read this, we are celebrating our first Thanksgiving as Plant City residents. We are blessed to be part of such a loving community — and so thankful you have opened your lives to us.
I am so very thankful to our owners, Ed Verner, Felix Haynes and Nate Kilton, for their commitment to bringing hometown news back to Plant City — and for inviting me to be part of that commitment. I also want to thank all of our in-house staff — Sales Manager Rosemary Felton, ad executives Ronda Kyler and Veronica Prostko, associate editors Amber Jurgensen and Matt Mauney, Accounting Manager Petra Kirkland and Administrative Assistant Linda Lancaster — as well as all our circulation folks, contributing writers and remote support staff. Without you, this would not be possible.
And most of all, thank you to all of our business partners and readers. You’re the reason why we are doing this.
As editor of our sister paper, the East County Observer, my Thanksgiving tradition was to offer 50 reasons why I, as a father, am thankful for my children and family. This year, our son, Lyric, is 4, and our daughter, Aria, is 2, and I hope these little morsels of parental trials, tribulations and triumphs help to remind you and yours what truly is important.
1. How Lyric still believes Daddy can fix anything.
2. The way Aria has placed a timetable on her potty-training. Not now, she tells us. But when she’s 3, look out, toilet!
3. Goldfish crackers!
4. The way both kids still look so tiny from just a few feet away.
5. When Aria touches my face after I come home from a late night at work. “You here now?” she asks, amazed, in her half-asleep state.
6. Watching Lyric absolutely dominate a jigsaw puzzle.
7. Aria’s adopted name for Whoppers, those chocolate-covered malt balls: “coconuts” — or, rather — “coke-ee-nuts.”
8. The way Lyric dots the “I” in his name with a circle.
9. Finding one of them chewing on something — when I know we haven’t given them anything to eat.
10. How Lyric has developed an entire backstory for his family of stuffed-animal monkeys.
11. When Aria wraps her hand around my finger to go on a walk.
12. The way both kids can watch the same episode of “Team Umizoomi” over and over again. And over. And over!
13. Lyric’s version of the Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Credible Hulk. Hey, he’s great if you need a witness in court.
14. That the entire house must be silent if the kids’ stuffed animals are sleeping. That rule does not apply if Mommy or Daddy are sleeping.
15. Watching the kids play when they don’t know we’re looking.
16. Babysitters!
17. Dual sinks in the family bathroom. Translation: One less thing to fight over.
18. That the color of the sun still is pronounced, “Lellow.”
19. The tiny freckle right next to Aria’s belly button.
20. How counting slowly from one to five in my best, authoritative-Dad voice can get Lyric to obey. I still have no idea what I’d do if I ever got to five.
21. How that same counting has absolutely no effect on Aria.
22. When either kid comes home from school singing a new song.
23. Potty humor! Gets ‘em every time!
24. Those rare occasions when we know both kids are together — and uncharacteristically quiet.
25. And, of course, the inevitable destruction that follows that hurricane’s eye.
26. How Aria places her hands together to pray before every meal.
27. Teaching Lyric some rudiments on the drums. He may be the only 4-year-old in Plant City who can play a paradiddle.
28. When Aria jumps up out of her chair and exclaims, “Watch me, Daddy!” Then, she proceeds to hop about, limbs flailing, dancing as only she can.
29. How both kids have claimed their own colors of the spectrum. Everything orange rightfully belongs to Lyric. Everything blue goes to Aria.
30. How any illness that requires a pick-up from school inexplicably occurs on deadline day. How do they know?
31. Receiving a group hug that is so genuine, so full of love, that it literally knocks me off my feet.
32. Lyric’s love affair with donuts.
33. Hearing Aria snoring through the baby monitor.
34. How the kids know “Daddy’s Work” is the building with the strawberry sign. (Let’s hope they don’t get too lost in Plant City!)
35. How my daughter is turning out to be a carbon copy of me — personality and all. (Yikes!)
36. How one finger, strategically placed, can send either child into hysterics.
37. Trying to explain to Lyric the difference between “C” and “K” — and why we need both.
38. That no matter how tough work may be (missed deadlines, angry calls, circulation snafus), there’s always time at the end of the day to discuss the finer points of zoo animals with Aria.
39. Speaking of animals, according to Aria, a dog says, “Woof!” A cat says, “Meow!” And a giraffe … Well, a giraffe says, “Giraffe!”
40. How Lyric has my wife’s smile.
41. That in our house, the remote control is called “Daddy’s Buttons.”
42. How, even at the old age of 4, Lyric still sometimes wants to be rocked by his Mommy.
43. That for Lyric, purchasing a giant container of cheese balls from Sam’s Club is cause for top-of-his-lungs celebration — right there in the store.
44. How both of them automatically assume a new food is something they won’t like. (You should have seen us trying to get them to take a bite of our Pig Jam pulled-pork sandwiches!)
45. How Lyric challenged unsuccessfully a much older kid to a foot race at the park. After his defeat, Lyric collapsed next to us, and with his head hanging low, he muttered, “I lost all my power.”
46. Chocolate milk!
47. That the default parent at 5 a.m. is Mommy.
48. That the default parent for boogers is also Mommy.
49. How their very existence has put into perspective everything else in our lives.
50. That I have my wife to help me both enjoy and endure these two blessings.
From all of us, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!