Kid Stuff

I have two daughters, ages 20 and 23.  As a matter of fact, my youngest daughter just turned 20 this weekend.  I figure that is a good enough reason for a story or two.  No snakes, no fires, no naked Elvis…just kid stuff. My oldest will have to wait until her birthday to get some stories about her.

You never appreciate or understand how much your parents truly love you until you have kids of your own.

As she still does today, when my youngest daughter was about 4 or 5 years old she could make me smile or laugh at my most aggravated moments. Here are just a couple.

One early morning, the whole family was packing for a trip to the mountains.  While the three women (wife and two daughters) were packing suitcases, I was left the unmanageable task of packing the car.  For those of you who don’t know, for a 4 day trip three females will pack enough stuff to last for months.  I think there were only a couple pieces of furniture left in the house that didn’t go in the car.  I asked “are we even coming back, or are we moving to the mountains?”  Of course, they don’t think they’ve packed enough.

I packed the car as tight as it would go in every nook and cranny possible. Toys here, stuffed animals there.  When everything was done and all that was left was to close the trunk of the car, I asked if that was all. I made it very clear that we could not possibly get another thing in there. Everyone agreed…that was all.  So, I’m outside pushing on the trunk lid with all my might, struggling to get it closed and latched.  Finally, through sweat, tears, cramps, blood, dizzy moments, and a few choice words, I got it closed.  Whew! But as I turned and looked down next to me, there was my youngest daughter standing with her pillow in her hands and flashing huge puppy dog eyes.  She timidly said “I have one more thing”.  At this moment I almost screamed. I almost lost my patience. But, before I could do or say anything, she said “Its ok daddy, you can smush it down in there, it’s not BREAKAFUL”.  Ha...'breakaful'...it's funny how they can cutsie up a word. How could I be mad now and not try to get her pillow in there? Dads are real suckers.  Little girls can tug at your heartstrings and make you dance like a puppet.

Another time, I had just got home from work after having a bad day and I was letting it get to me.  I plopped down on the couch, tired, worried, and cranky.  Then, from down the hall I heard the toilet flush followed by a cackle of laughter from my youngest daughter. (As I sat there on the couch, I thought to myself, you know sometimes after I’ve gone to the toilet I feel good enough to cackle too.)  I chuckled a little at myself, shrugged my shoulders and continued fretting over work.  I turned the TV on and started flipping channels to clear my mind.  FLUSH!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!  There it goes again.  Now I’ve become suspicious.  What is she up to?  Off the couch and down the hall I went.  I get to the bathroom and the door is slightly open.  I ease the door open quietly to see what she’s doing.  There she stands, fully clothed, with her back to me.  She takes the end of the toilet tissue, and without tearing it off the roll, puts it in the toilet and flushes.  The roll reels off what seems like 15 feet of tissue.  She howls with laughter.  Even though I’m about to pee my pants laughing from watching her ingenuity and her laugh so hard, I have to tell her to stop because she’s wasting tissue.    

So here’s to you Sweetie, on your birthday weekend...  I hope you have lots of fun.  I love you and your sister more than you can comprehend until you have a child of your own (don’t get in a hurry though). Thank you for all the laughs through the years.  I look forward to lots more.

Let me end by giving you and your sister a few words of advice –

Happiness is a choice.  No person or no thing can make you happy.  It comes from within.

Always put God and family first.

And...Please be gentle when you tug on the puppet strings of your dear ole dad, because in your hands you hold his heart, and it is very breakaful.