"Daddy fix"

One of the drawbacks of being even slightly handy is that you build up expectations. In the past, my not-so-handy (or not-handy-at-all) friends and family have often called on me for advice or ask me to help them install or repair something (or even to do it for them). Partly because I like to get all the experience I can, and partly because I've always had trouble saying no, I usually oblige. Not surprisingly, it poses quite a quandary when it comes to my own projects.

While I enjoy helping, these requests have thankfully dried up in the two years since my daughter. People are respectful of the fact that I don't have the time I once did for my own projects - never mind theirs.

This segues perfectly into the new quandary of high expectations - my daughter's.

As she's gotten older, more independent and very, very smart, she's seen me fix a few things, including some of her toys and pop-up books that no longer pop up. I love seeing the expression on her face when she sees Elmo and his daddy back in their rightful place in one of her books. The Baby Einstein book "Jane's Animal Adventures" was a particularly tricky fix, but it's been restored to as close to its original form as humanly possible.

So now, whenever something breaks, she hands it to me and says, "Daddy fix." Flowers, bananas, books, toys - it doesn't make a difference. I love that she looks up to me as a Mr. Fix-It hero who can repair anything.

Aside from the fact that she often seems to break things on purpose with the thought that I'll fix them, the biggest problem is that sometimes Daddy can fix. Sometimes he can't. For example, you can mush a banana back together. But in the case of flowers, tissues or other un-fixables, if a reasonable facsimile can be found, a little sleight of hand usually does the trick.

So in addition to my continuing education in the ways of DIY and home improvement, I'm also getting a self-taught education in magic tricks.

But given how smart this one is proving to be, I have to wonder how long I can get away with that.