“Beckett’s Dad” (aka Christian) still proudly calls himself a “new papa” even as Beckett nears his 2nd birthday this coming September. Christian lives in Ft. Worth, TX with Beckett, his middle school principal wife Karla, and 2 furry dogs (Tucker and Flaco). Beyond being a daddy blogger, Christian’s “think:lab” blog explores the future of learning, emerging technology, and his passion for school architecture/design (which he did professionally before returning to life as a high school English teacher in the fall of 07). Read more about Christian on the Dads page or search for his past posts…

It all started so innocently.

Setting the scene:

Backyard summer afternoon in the suburbs of Chicago while visiting his grandparents. The sun making delightful leaf shadows on the patio. Slightly warmed breezes catching the side of our faces, tempting parents’ desire to take a nap. Toys of all shapes and sizes laying around in much-loved fashion. A kiddo rummaging around with his latest l’object de la curiosite.

Like so many of you parental-types have experienced time and time again in moments just like this, it was a decidely non-moment moment in the bigger course of things. And yet, there his papa was, video camera in hand, filming in a just in case sorta way…

…when things suddenly went a little crazy:

Watch Out For The Wild Beckett (Note: feel free to click the link to see it in the land of YouTube if you can’t see the video above)

In 17 sec home video clip, papa suddenly watched as his kiddo went from

a) inquisitive, calm, quiet, focused, and gently playing to

b) savage, erratic, out-of-control, hungry like a wolf, a bit loony, and the envy of every extra on the set of a Lord of the Flies remake…

…causing papa to back up, back up, run, run, run, laugh, giggle, run, run, laugh some more, run, run, and stay out of the way of those dang toddler chompers until the wild critter of a kiddo…

…showed that underneath that crazed bull of Pomplona ‘guise of his lay a once-again adorable toddler accidentally pulling the curtain back on his poker hand with an unexpected post-attack smile that made things at home good and loving again.

Phew!

***

As I re-watch this video, thinking about how unexpectedly Beckett changed the dynamic of what appeared to be a non-moment moment, it dawns on me that such a video is less about the kiddo than it is about the parent.

Let me explain (although many of you will certainly predict part of the punch-line well in advance).

First, we new parent, 1st-child types have a tendency to read a great deal into every little ol’ thang out kiddo does. Eats a meatball with his left hand one afternoon, and suddenly we’re rushing to the guidebooks to see how many left-handed artists and world leaders have littered the annuls of success in history. Junior begins banging on a drum with at least 3 accurate strikes in a row, and suddenly we’re contacting Julliard instead of MIT for an early admissions packet.

Truth be told, most kids do stuff that doesn’t mean a dang thang. We may see it with the clarity of Nostradomus. That’s our perrogative as a new parent, 1st-child type. But it guarantees nada, zippo, nil.

Second, kids change and change fast. Beckett’s mama is a middle school principal, so she’s well-acquainted with the concept of the changeling (oddly quirky horror/suspense films from the 70’s aside) when a 7th grader comes in wearing a I <heart> Jonas Bros. t-shirt on a Monday only to be supplanted with a Jonas Bros stink like bad cheese headband the very next afternoon. Middle schoolers are by their nature changelings. But so are anonymous toddlers and babies fresh out of the delivery room and donut-lovin’ kindergarteners playing Cat Woman Saves the Day and homeschooled kiddos of some unknown age/grade group. In the case of a toddler bearin’ teeth in the backyard, it’s a good thing to remember…

…especially so you’ll have time to get away unbitten.

Third, that camera is an odd historical record maker. Sure, it catches the non-moment in all its second-by-second glory, but that means little in terms of real history. Instead, it becomes yet another biased nostalgia spinner and new parent, 1st-child type bragging apparatus that muddies the honest truth of childhood in all its glory. Yes, Beckett did move from zeoo-to-sixty on the attack papa speedometer the other day, but then again minus the video of proof it would have been a soon-to-be forgotten blip on the family’s advent calendar of memory. Video means existence? Or does it?

More accurately, it is the what conclusions do you make of the kiddo’s and his papa/mama’s behavior question that should linger. After all, the kid was just being a kid. The parent, however, was entering a whole new territory of post-modern child-raising behind the lens and YouTube upload.

Fourth and finally, I am left thinking less and less about the child’s behavior (odd or adorable makes no difference), and more and more about the culture of parenting that

a) stands on the sideline videotaping every second of junior girl’s mid-week soccer match or junior fella’s awkward flute recital,

b) keeps a camera handy even in non-moment moments like the one above just in the random chance that papa will have to dodge an erratic growler once known as his lovely baby boy, and

c) what it all means when we new parent, 1st-child types then go on to blog about it all.

And perhaps it is that last point that makes me wonder more than all.

As a blogger who has been writing/uploading for more than 4 years now — 2 of which have included the impending arrival of and eventual life evolution of his son Beckett — the cultural implications of gestalt, scattershot blogging is still something of a wild card at the life poker table for me.

What started innocently as a digital for the grandparents project by blogging stories, photos, and videos of a grandchild that lived many states away from his elders has naturally morphed into something larger, more curious, and with greater Google link potential.

Today 22 month old Beckett’s own blog has a readership that extends well beyond the boundaries of family and close friends. Likewise, his papa is now blogging about the act of being a parent with a group of other like-parent-blogging-minds here at This Mommy Gig. All of which means that for Beckett, childhood can’t help but resemble The Truman Show a bit at times, full-fledged digital:native or not.

As to what that will mean in the years to come, I’ll tell you when we get there.

Or you can just watch the videos and draw your own conclusions.

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