He's got mad carnival daddy skills

Tom and I took my 3-year old nephew, K, to a carnival near our house today. We had beautiful weather and my sister and BIL had a wedding today, so we took K for a few hours. We don't really see him that much...maybe once or twice a month.

When we crossed the street to go towards the carnival area, Tom was holding K's hand. We happened to see relatives of an in-law relative wave to us as they drove by and we laughed because we said that they probably thought that we finally got our kid.

We asked K if he wanted to go on rides and he said yes. It was then that I realized that I should have asked my sister and BIL how he did on rides when they dropped him off. We saw a dragon kiddie mini-roller coaster and K was down with it...that must mean he enjoys rides, right? Tom got in line with him and asked the operator if he could help him get in his seat. He buckled him in and reminded him more than once, "Don't stand up, OK? Hold on to the bar, buddy". I stood with the other adults, camera in hand, and wondered if I looked the part of "mom". For a few seconds I felt a little sad thinking that we should have already had this experience with our own child. I stood with Tom as we waited for his ride to start and I reminded him that we'd be back doing this again in a few years with our kid. Meanwhile, K looked a little apprehensive, downright scared even. And then the ride started...

As the mini-roller coaster went around each time, I saw his eyes, big as saucers, no smile, and his little hands holding on for dear life. The ride was stopped prematurely because there was a little boy, younger than K, crying his head off. K's seat happened to stop right where we were standing and Uncle Tommy asked him if he was OK. K looked over at us and said faintly, "I'm scared". He definitely didn't look like he was having fun. Right then, Tom told the operator he was taking him off. Tom got to him first, picked him up and reassured him that it was OK. A few minutes later we found a car ride that just went around in circle at a snail's pace. Perfect. We even got a thumbs up from K and every time he passed us, he had a big smile for Tom.

Tom's going to be an awesome dad. I already knew that, of course. I don't think I could have gone through all those infertility treatments if my husband was a complete tool (although I know a few women who married and then had children with absolute jerks). He was very sweet and protective of him. Watching him in action with our nephew just makes me hope for our baby even more.