Monday 26 November 2007

Garibaldi

I needed to go into the city centre of Dublin to pick up a few things so I took my three year old daughter along with me. For the most part she was very good and I really enjoyed the time with her. However, there was one small incident where she broke a toy and refused to say sorry to the sales person - despite my threat that there would be no snack if she didn't apologise. She held her ground.

Fortunately we were in a Christian bookshop and the sales person said that my daughter was forgiven.

Walking down the street form the bookshop I noticed a small coffee bar that seemed quite new. A couple of things struck me about the place. It was called Garibaldi which may have been in reference to the Italian military hero who was influential in bringing about a unified Italy. However it made my think of a favourite biscuit (cookie) of mine when I was young - also called Garibaldi and voted Biscuit of the Week in February 2002(!)

The other thing that struck me was seeing a fresh cream cake in the window and an almost desperate need for a cup of coffee. I quickly reneged on my threat about a snack and enjoyed a latte and cake sitting on a stool with my daughter enjoying her juice and dotty cookie.

I may in the future pay for such slap-dash parenting standards as this. But for today, I'm OK with it.

7 comments:

jsi said...

Merry Christmas

There is no replacement for the love a daddy and a daughter share. Nothing to compare it to, nothing more intentional, more persusasive, more influential,more sweet.
Face the facts, she's going to stand her ground for the rest of her little, delightful, colorful life and you are going to bask in her presence, so blessed to get to share a cream cake and a dotty cookie.
Forget about ambassador negotiations and power meetings - those daddy daughter meetings are the ones that shape the movement of the world.
You got to spend the afternoon with a princess - you are such a lucky dog!

Shane Tucker said...

You sound like the kind of man who would be interested in a conversation with Tony Jones, National Coordinator for Emergent Village (USA). I wouldn't be inviting you from here except that I couldn't find your email address anywhere. He's sharing on the global emerging church this Sat. (Dec. 1st) in Christ Church Cathedral (€12 from www.3rock.net) and a network called Dreamers of the Day is hosting a very small gathering with him Saturday night from 6pm til Sunday at 3pm in city centre for deeper dialogue. If you're interested email me at shane@ciyd.org. Blessings!

Cosmo said...

jsi,

Thank you for your lovely words. You're also the first this year to wish me a Merry Christmas!


shane,

I would totally be up for meeting Tony Jones only I have a function which I must be present at this Saturday (all day and evening), with other commitments on Sunday - what a shame!

I went along to the day with Brian McLaren which 3rock organized last year.

Thanks for the invite though. Hoefully there will be more in the future.

Thanks also for stopping by my blog - I'm guessing you must have read some of the other posts (or my profile) otherwise I'm terribly impressed that you discerned my interest in the emerging church through a post about biscuits!

Dana said...

Cosmo -
My first reaction is that she was being very honest. She wasn't sorry she broke it. That's all she was letting you know.
And possibly that she's always going to stand her ground about what she believes in...
Both good characteristics!

David said...

Garibaldi. Wow, that is a name I don't hear often. I remember reading about him during my first year in college. I was not aware of the pastry.

It is nice to spend time with our children. My children are growing up too fast. My daughter will be 18 soon and going off to college herself. We did spend an evening with her tonight. It was great.

I linked to your site from JSI's blog. I will keep checking back. My daughter is going to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. No real plan, it just worked out that day.

Thanks for allowing me to stop by.
David.

Cosmo said...

Hi David,

Thanks for your comment and welcome to the coffeehouse.

Your daughter will have fun when she visits Ireland. Paddy's Day is a bit crazy. And almost always cold and wet! Intrestingly (or not) Patrick's Day (17th March) falls on the start of Holy Week next year. I have a vague feeling the Pope has even tried to change the date of Patrick's Day!

Anyway, please keep visiting. I've been a bit lax with posting lately. I must try harder.

Pluto said...

Mmmmm .... latte!