The merits of dinosaurs and robots

there is this child, a young boy, that from the moment he saw me treated me like a father. i'm not used to that. i'm not used to children, and i'm not used to having such protective feelings for a kid in general. but the way he reached out and made me feel, it was kind of odd. i never felt like i'd be so protective and so caring, much less for someone i had just met a moment ago.

i never felt like discussing the merits of dinosaurs and robots would be the most important thing in the world, but it was, for that moment. i never knew how deep my fascination with fire trucks still was. i never knew how much i suck ass at video games compared to this kid. i never knew i could look into the eyes of someone so much younger and see such promise and also see the hurt that had already taken place. i never knew i could cry for someone so much younger than me and wish i really could make it all better, instead of being a grownup who says it, but doesn't have the slightest idea of how to make it better, or says it by rote, because their own parents said the same thing to them.

things won't be alright, but kid, you'll still have me looking out for you.

is this what it feels like to be a father? i don't know. i do know that dinosaurs are better than robots.