Ordinarily, Sean loved being at Castle Park with Helen. He enjoyed watching her climb in the wooden maze and come down the mini-sliding board and land in the sand. Today, his focus was on the Keane case and not on the swing that he was pushing. It was not surprising that when the swing came back, it struck Sean in the chest knocking the wind out of him. As painful as it was to Sean, the folly got Helen laughing.

Sean began thinking the thought that has probably plagued many a professional person, politician, or any other person of assumed importance. The feeling that what they are doing far outweighs the day to day mundane tasks involved in raising a child. When Helen pulled on his pant leg and asked Sean, “Watch me slide, Daddy,” he pushed the thought aside and told himself that there was nothing more important in life than parenting. And if he couldn’t remind himself of that, Amy would when he got home.

When she came down from the slide, Sean picked Helen up, threw her in the air, and then put her in the child seat of the family beater. He drove back to the apartment thinking about his parents’ beliefs instilled in him to quell any hints of narcissism in his psyche: “Be nice to everyone. You are no better than anyone else,” his father instructed. “Sean, you’re getting too big for your britches,” warned his mother. Some counselors would seek to use those aphorisms as a reason for the destruction of a child’s fragile ego and self-esteem. Sean looked at his parent’s advice as a valuable lesson in humility. Perhaps that is why Sean decided to represent people, not corporations that felt they were “better than others,” and was “too big for their britches.”

When Sean opened the door, smiling with babe in arm, he was immediately greeted by Amy.

As she grabbed Helen and hugged Sean, she said, “I’m sorry, Sean. You really wanted to tell me something.”

“It’s nothing,” Sean smirked.