Green Eggs and Ham with Daddy

As a new dad, I only hoped to get some things right, get most things wrong, and keep the little one in good health along the way. However, is anything ever that simple? Processing the change in myself, my marriage and new life was a challenge. My inner self was evolving, yet I couldn’t figure out exactly how. Something deeply held in me started to erode.  It’s that thing a person holds onto until a baby comes along—that thing, for me, was good, old-fashioned selfishness. I had a sudden realization that nothing I needed or wanted really mattered anymore. Our little guy was it, why we did everything. It was, and is one of the best feelings I’ve come to know.

As our Rowan started to grow, and then with little Ellis, our duties as parents have also changed. Fortunately for Jennedy and I, our schedules work well enough for our duties to overlap and not cause an additional amount of stress. As all parents know, the anomaly becomes routine. We roll with it, and before you know it, it’s normal. Voila! 

So, today I will focus on cooking. Anyone who knows me knows it’s something I love to do, but something also that bonds me to my family. It’s not the old tale of “hunter-gatherer”, (prehistoric dad goes out with a spear while mom has a baby on her back, hunched over a clay pot stirring god knows what), but how our schedules have taken us to a place at around 5:30-6:00 that has become sort of a well-oiled machine—relatively speaking, of course!

Blame Dr. Seuss—he started the whole green eggs and ham thing. One of Rowan’s favorite stories, and combined with his newly found (as of about 3 years old) ability to say no to certain things….terrible as this was, it forced us to be resourceful and figure out a way. I tried one day, as soon as Rowan said “No” to several dinner ideas (he had eaten rice and a cheese stick with fruit for several days in a row) to offer him green eggs and ham. He screamed “Ok, Daddy!!!” to my delight, and the following thought was ‘how the hell do I make green eggs’…

I run to the fridge, grab some pesto, dice up some black forest ham, scramble an egg, and he had the best dinner in his limited experience up to date. What was a small victory became a challenge for me, and ultimately one of my many enjoyable fatherhood experiences.

As time goes on, I view dinner time as my time to bond with Rowan, (and Ellis, now that he has 3 teeth) offering to come help me cook, and divide parenting duties with Jennedy, as she knows I have everything (food wise) handled for the boys, and I try to have our adult dinner ready so that we can all eat together.

It’s so important to have this family time, especially when I may have to run off and play a concert that evening. If there is a time in each day that we can slow things down, it must be taken! The time we can look across the table, smile and laugh over a meal is what keeps things in a proper perspective. There are so many thankless tasks my wife performs every day, and I think that as a parent, we each need our own little niche, our special thing, above others, that we love to do for the family. It’s what builds connections and makes each familial bond so treasured and unique.

We recently got a gift from good friends of ours, little embroidered chef jackets for Rowan and Ellis. One day Rowan asked me if he could wear his chef jacket and help me make green eggs and ham for dinner. It was one of my greatest moments as a Dad, and I probably was teary eyed as he ran off to get his jacket…and four minutes later when he said, “Ok, Daddy, I’m done cooking”, I was still just as happy, because tomorrow I’d get another shot!  

Kyle Lombard is husband to Jennedy, father to Rowan and Ellis. I am a professional violinist, who has lived and worked in STL since 1999. Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, and steeped in the tradition of Gates BBQ, the pursuit of smoked meat perfection is another passion of mine. My burger was once hailed as “the only meat this vegetarian will ever eat.”