Who am I?

I had the privilege of reading to Sam's 3-4 year old class at the end of a recent school day. When everyone was seated around the rug next to the reader's chair, Sam's wonderful teacher Mrs. Rhodes asked Sam to stand up and introduce me. He said, simply, "This is my Daddy!"

Mrs. Rhodes followed up with, "Sam, is his name Mr. Hutton?" In all seriousness, Sam responded, "No, his name is Coach Ames."

I don't think that Sam had ever introduced me before. It's always interesting to see how your kids think of you: first, as Daddy (or Mommy), and then, as other kids see (or refer to) you. I am known to a lot of kids--Jack's soccer team, the Dragons, and their siblings especially--as Coach Ames, which I think is great. I love not being "Mr. Hutton," because whenever I hear that I think my dad is there! In fact, there's one notorious *cool* kid in Annie's class who, since Kindergarten, has just called me Ames. And that's just fine with me.

It is my hope as a parent that my kids' friends will be comfortable enough with me to speak with me casually and share things with me...maybe even the things they don't feel that they can share with their parents. And for what it's worth, I think that the title "Coach" is a very special one indeed. Those who know me well know that I had several coaches in my brief athletic career, but for me there will only be one Coach with a capital "C." I can only hope that I can live up to his example.

PS--I was very properly reminded after I originally posted this, as I should have been, that I am even more proud and honored to be Daddy to Annie, Jack, Will and Sam. And I have a pretty great example to look up to in that role, as well.