I’m not one of those delusional parents who believes my child is exceptional simply because she comes from me. She’s a baby. And babies are, by definition, uninformed and naive.

But babies see obvious things that most of us miss all of the time, or worse, we even laugh at them for thinking.

I’ve been watching my daughter Senita carefully since she was born and today, on the eve of celebrating her six-month birthday, share a few of the lessons I’ve learned from her.

Don’t Take Things for Granted

Senita assumes that every time I leave the room she may never see me again. At first glance this seems like a naive baby thing, but maybe it is actually stupid to assume I’m coming back.

Just think about how many funerals you’ve attended thinking, “If only I’d known I’d never see him again.”

Sure, most of us probably won’t die tonight, or even this week or month. But some of us might. Open it up to this year and it becomes a lot more likely.

Expand it to this decade and its nearly certain. Given the advanced age of my average reader, it’ll probably be you. Let’s never take each other for granted again.

Don’t Worry So Much About Time

One of my favorite things about Senita is that she isn’t clock-obsessed (possibly because she can’t tell time).

Specifically, she doesn’t worry about getting enough sleep tonight to deal with tomorrow’s plans (mostly because she doesn’t know about them).

Yet still, it’s refreshing to be up with someone past midnight who never complains about what time they have to get up the next day.

Late-night hours are the most glorious in the day if you’re willing to live in the moment and enjoy them.

I can’t stand when people drone on and on about their next-day obligations the moment the sun starts setting. Try a nap if you’re so tired; Senita takes like six of them a day.

Speak Up When Something Bothers You

One of the reasons my marriage works is that both Jenny and I are always trying to make the other one more comfortable, often at our own expense.

This personality trait works great in a relationship of mutual respect and love, but not always so great in the broader world.

I’m far too quick to surrender an arm rest when sharing a seat on a plane; Senita wouldn’t put up with that nonsense.

Simply step on the wrong part of a floorboard while she’s trying to sleep and all hell breaks loose. She bends the world to meet her will and regards all who oppose her with the utmost contempt.

That is an admirable self-confidence level, although entirely unwarranted since she regularly tries to eat her own foot.

You Don’t Need to Be Happy to See everyone Who’s Happy to See You

Follow your instinct. If they smell like a Hallmark store or reach into your personal space without consent just fill your pants with poop. Works every time.

Bubbles are Awesome

Floating soap balls. May that never stop amazing you.

Just Because You Couldn’t Do Something Yesterday Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Today

Senita hits new milestones every single day. It took her months to learn how to roll over for the first time from back to front, but just a few days to roll over from front to back.

Now she’s rolling in circles, which doesn’t seem physically possible but somehow is.

If Something’s Not for You, Just Go Back to Sleep

I’m not all that into at coming up with endings. Goodnight.

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