My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. Since the new baby, the family was due for a nice restaurant, so we ventured into Boston and dined at Legal Harborside. “There’s a spot!” Lainey yelled as I drove down Seaport Boulevard. “Nope,” she groaned. “Hydrant.” We parked in a lot, which was cheap for Boston, and crossed the street to Legal for lunch. The windows and floors of the restaurant sparkled, a fountain pond teemed with fish, the bar towered with wine and an elevator serviced three entire floors. Obviously, this was the flagship of the Legal Sea Food franchise. We were seated …

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. If there is anything that involves slime or sugar—she’s on it. When the grandparents were in town, Lainey convinced them to visit Henry Bear’s Park and buy her a toy. She led them straight to the expensive stuff and picked out a science kit. “Mad science!” Lainey exclaimed in her spooky Dr. Frankenstein voice. Soon Lainey split cornstarch across the dining room table, mixed it with a packet from the kit, and made glow in the dark slime. She dragged family members one-by-one into her closet to show how brightly the goop glowed. Later, Lainey …

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. For some reason, we decided to go to The Boston Children’s Museum on a Friday after 5 p.m. –- dollar admission night! When we arrived the line to enter was so long that we grabbed a bite to eat. After supper the line dwindled, but the crowd inside was insane. “I want to play on the climbing structure!” Lainey yelled. Several different wavy platforms of carpet hung from the 3-story ceiling. Numerous cables acted as framework and cooping, to house the multitude of crawling kids.  “Lainey, look at the line to get in that thing!” I grimaced, “and…

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. The kindergartener has grown leaps and bounds in her reading skills, and recently we bought her a diary. “Don’t even think about reading my diary, Dad!” Lainey said one morning. The Hello Kitty diary was complete with a padlock to keep out unwanted readers. Lainey sat on her bed and locked and unlocked the journal several times while writing. “Time me!” Lainey ordered, before she whipped out the key and opened the pages. “How fast?” she asked. “Ten seconds,” I said. “You try,” Lainey smiled, “but don’t read it!” “OK,” I agreed. I grabbed the …

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. She enjoyed this past Patriots’ Day, until the parade showed up. My wife pushed Joey in the stroller, and I pulled Lainey in her wagon to Mass Ave for Arlington’s Patriots’ Day Parade, which salutes town involvement in the first day of the Revolutionary War. Crowds of families arrived around 2 p.m. and waited curbside for the festivities. Venders lugged grocery carts overstuffed with inflatable toys, horns and bubble-shooters. An ice-cream truck thrived in the hot sunshine, and Lainey enjoyed a popsicle. Two of Lainey’s school friends passed …

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. Lately she’s made several advancements: she tied her shoes, received her first report card, improved her reading skills, swam in the deep end at the pool and, perhaps most impressively, embraced the role of big sister. Lainey wasn’t so nurturing at first. She whined constantly and was starved for attention. Then little Joey gave her that first big smile, and like the rest of the family, she was smitten. Lainey soon morphed Joseph Standley into several affectionate pet names. First was "Joey," then "Jo-Jo," followed by "Yo-Yo," which turned …

My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. Looking to break the routine recently, the family visited the Chuck E. Cheese in Everett. Lainey burst through the doors, got her hand stamped and explored the revelry. Everything from classic carnival games like skee-ball, to sophisticated touch-screen devices were on hand. Above the arcade, an immense playland of crawl-through plastic tubes hung from the ceiling. And the expansive dining area was complete with party balloons, bland pizza, and an animatronic Chuck, who sang and appeared just a bit creepy. After eating, Lainey and I bought …

  My daughter Lainey is 5 years old, and I love her. Lately, she's been making trouble at home, but behaving at school. The other night some friends joined us for dinner. Lainey played downstairs with their son, while the adults and babies hung out upstairs. At one point a parent checked on the kids and caught their son writing on a basement wall. The boy (a sweet kid) apologized and the night went on smoothly, but once our guests left, I prodded Lainey for details. “You must not have seen him writing on the wall, right Lainey?” I said. “You would have yelled at him, right?” Lainey nodded at …

  My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. There was a lot of excitement the other day, some of which was unplanned. Festivities began with a 9:30 a.m. showing of The Lorax. Lainey said the plot strayed from the book, but she still enjoyed the movie, especially the popcorn for breakfast. Next, we attended a belated pi/pie party. Everything from Key Lime to Shepherd’s to Whoopie Pie was on hand, and Lainey chose Ice Cream Pie as her favorite. Then we hit a Mexican themed party. Lainey ate quesadillas, and ran around with her buddies. When the kids moved outside, Lainey had an …

  My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. We recently said goodbye to an unsung member of the family, our 2004 Volkswagon Jetta. Purchased new in Berkeley, CA, two months before my wedding, and three years before Lainey’s birth, the Jetta escorted our family coast-to-coast, and residence-to-residence. For nearly nine years, the sporty four-door remained a constant source of comfort and dependability. But as Lainey’s legs grew into the back of my driver’s seat, and Joey’s enormous baby carrier swallowed more space, the time to acquire a roomier vehicle had arrived. My wife and I …

  My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. We recently received some bad news at the dentist office. Lainey had mentioned a toothache while eating ice cream, and a week later she sat in the adjustable chair, mouth open, wearing sunglasses and staring into a spotlight. “See this cavity?” The dentist said, aiming her inspection mirror at a crater. “Yep.” I cringed. The dental hygienist finished Lainey’s cleaning while the dentist scowled at me. “Does she floss?” The dentist asked. “Eh.” I shrugged. “She has cavities between all her back teeth.” The dentist said, pointing to an x-ray…

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. Usually she enjoys arts and crafts, but her latest project required some technical design. “Let’s make a kinetic sculpture,” Lainey said. “What?” I replied. “Where’d you learn that, school?” “Ruff Ruffman,” Lainey said, referring to her favorite TV program. “We have to find things around the house and reuse them,” Lainey instructed. I led her toward the recycling bin. Lainey picked out a water bottle, a large tin can and an empty paper towel roll. Then she grabbed duct tape, scissors and string from the junk drawer. “Let’s go downstairs,” …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. We recently survived vacation week together. There was already a week off school for Christmas, now there’s a week off for winter break and soon there’s another week off for spring break. That’s too many weeks, in my opinion, but like every other young family in Arlington, we adapted. The beginning of the week was easy—we had guests in town and Lainey was often read to, played with, fed candy and otherwise spoiled rotten. We enjoyed tooling around Harvard Square and spent an afternoon at the New England Aquarium. Lainey’s spoiled status …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. We recently attended our first daddy-daughter dance. Lainey insisted on practicing some dips and twirls beforehand, and gushed when she saw her rose corsage. Lainey wore her new pink dress that night, skipped all the way to her school, and sang some made-up tune about dancing with dad. As soon as we arrived, four friends greeted Lainey at the door. The girls all exchanged compliments about their dresses and hair while I helped Lainey remove her coat and put on her corsage. Then Lainey took off, chasing her friends across the dance floor. …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. She gets pumped about holidays, including Valentine’s Day this Tuesday. Even though she’s just in kindergarten, Lainey is assigned homework daily. Lately assignments involve reading and writing sight words or counting by 10—but this week featured a names list. “Time to go home and make valentines,” Lainey declared after school. “You don’t want to play?” I offered, motioning to her friends who ran around the schoolyard. “Nope,” Lainey said, so we walked toward home. About a block away from the house, Lainey made a dead sprint and I tried to …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. All she wants to do lately is play video games. Lainey got home from school and went straight for the iPod. "Can I play Angry Birds?" Lainey asked. She attempted a few rounds of the game, and then hit a link that directed her to weird Angry Bird cartoons on YouTube. "What is that noise?" I asked. "Angry Birds Movie," she smiled. "No," I said. "If you’re going to watch cartoons, watch something educational." She turned on the TV and watched "Dinosaur Train," a program on PBS. When the episode ended, she turned the television off and ran to …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. We recently went sledding at Robbins Farm Park. The snow fell hard and the Volkswagon barely ascended the slippery hills. I parked, grabbed the sleds and we marched to the park’s peak. “This is steep!” Lainey hesitated. “Come on, kid,” I scoffed. “You just skied. This is nothing!” Lainey’s friend, Diane, and her dad, Bob, had joined us. Diane didn’t hesitate. “Let’s go, Lainey!” she yelled. They jumped on Diane’s blue sled. “If you might hit something,” Bob advised,  “jump off the sled!” “Okay,” the girls chimed and I pushed them downhill. …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. Recently, she tried skiing for the first time. Lainey was so excited for our ski trip, that all week she asked, “Is it time for ski?” The night before she insisted on wearing her tights and layers of polyester to bed. As soon as we hit 95 North, Lainey swore she could see mountains. We arrived at Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, ME, and Lainey joyfully jumped into the parking lot shuttle. She smiled broadly and never complained, even though the wind chill neared 20 below. At the Base Lodge, I dropped her off at Mountain Magic Ski School …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. Lately, she likes to play the freeze game. We’ll be in the middle of getting her dressed for school or walking home, and she’ll yell, “Freeze!” I’ll halt instantly and hold my position like a statue. Lainey will laugh and yell, “Unfreeze!” so I can move again. The other night, Lainey sat at the other end of the couch while I comforted her crying newborn brother, Joseph. Once Joey finally fell asleep, Lainey asked, “Can Mom hold Joe-Joe so I can sit on your lap? “Sure,” I smiled. Lainey jumped onto my lap and showed me a word-find in her …

My daughter Lainey is five years old and I love her. She’s been a big sister more than a month now and the jealousy has begun. With an infant around, the mood in our house has become slightly chaotic. The other night, my wife and I frantically searched the dresser for footy pajamas to help Joseph beat cold feet. His mini socks constantly fell off. “What are you looking for?” Lainey asked, trying to be helpful. “Found them!” I said, holding up some little blue PJ’s. “My feet are cold too!” Lainey exclaimed. “Do I have footy PJ’s?” “I don’t think so,” I shrugged. “But we can look.” Lainey and I…