He's 8. No specific occasion. Just came home from school with this absolutely terrible but incredibly thoughtful card he made in art class. It said "You're the best dad because you make me laugh and you always help me." Nope, not getting emotional at my desk. Totally fine. Anyway this is going straight on the fridge and I'm keeping it forever. 10/10 would get surprised again.
man I'm getting emotional just reading this. At 8 they still think you're the coolest person alive. Soak this in because it shifts so fast.
Save that card. Seriously. 20 years from now when parenting gets hard or your relationship with him gets complicated (teenage years), you'll need to remember this moment.
I'm 42, got a similar card from my oldest at 8. Kept it in my desk drawer at work for literally 10 years. Just saw it last month packing up my old office and yeah... not okay is the right way to describe it.
The "you make me laugh" part is everything. That's him saying you're present. You're not just there, you're actually WITH him. That card is proof.
"You make me laugh" from an 8yo is basically saying you're nailing the job. That's what they remember. Not the perfect moments, just the regular laughing together times.
The terrible handwriting and spelling just makes it hit harder though. You know exactly how old he is from it. These are the ones you keep forever.
Dude I still have the card my oldest made me when he was 6. He's 19 now. Something about that unfiltered kid-honesty in a handmade card just hits different than anything else.
lol the "terrible but thoughtful" description is exactly it. If it was a professional card it would mean nothing. The crayon marks and misspellings ARE the whole thing.
This is the stuff they remember forever though. When he's 25 and dealing with actual adult problems, he's gonna think back to making that card and knowing his dad genuinely laughed with him. That's deep.
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Man those hit different. That's the card you frame without showing him you're emotional about it. Those "no occasion" ones are the real ones.