Daddy's coming home!

For nearly 10 years, I worked until about midnight or 1 a.m. at the Ledger-Enquirer. I was on the news copy desk, which doesn't exactly lend itself to a good family life or much life at all outside of work without some creative scheduling. However, about a year and a half ago, I was fortunate enough to land a more normal schedule in the features department.

But last night I helped out a short-handed copy desk and realized how tough that can be on a parent. I managed to sneak out of the newsroom a little early and called to let the wife know I'd be home soon. In the background, I heard my 7-year-old son, Saylor, jumping up and down and yelling, "Daddy's coming home! Daddy's coming home!"

However, by the time I got there, the little fella had tuckered himself out waiting up for me and was asleep. I picked him up and carried him to his bed, kissed him on the cheek and told him I loved him, and he could barely mutter, "Love you too," before conking out for good. Sure makes me appreciate the flexibility I've got now.

Because I've got a flexible schedule, I was able to pick him up from day care and get him to his baseball game tonight. He's the 12th best hitter on a 13-member team but managed a couple of "hits" tonight and wound up with the game ball, which pretty much made his year. He said "I'm gonna call everybody I know," and proceeded to do just that after the game. The ball now sits on the mantle in our living room.

Had I still been on the news copy desk, I reckon I'd have missed that, too. So, the next time you spot a typo somewhere in the paper -- something that could never, ever happen on your watch, I'm sure -- cut them some slack. The words in one daily newspaper are enough to make a novel or two out of. It's a wonder there aren't far more errors in such a rushed product. Imagine if Mark Twain handed a rough draft of "Huckleberry Finn" to his editors at 2 p.m. and the book had to be edited, proofed, run on the press, out the door and hitting people's doorsteps in about 14 hours. That's pretty much what putting together a newspaper is like.

Perfection is every editor's goal and every reader's expectation, but it's not realistic. Just remember that there are a lot of folks giving up an awful lot to get that paper to you every day. Think about it while you're reading your kid to sleep.