Take One On the Chin
Elie and I were just watching "The Little Mermaid" and she kept crawling on me... Suddenly, she grabbed my cheeks and said, "Daddy. I'm in love."
Um...you're three... (actually, my mind flashed foward about 13 years to when she says that to me and means some boy who will be totally inappropriate for my little princess...visions of trying to scare him off with a variety of faked insanities...)
So, I say, "With who?"
"With you. And with Rachie. And with Mommy." Then she hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek - for which I was rewarded with..."Ow!"
She twisted my chin. "Why do you have pepper here?"
"No, that's my beard. I need to shave it off."
"Why did you shave off your beard? I like your beard."
"I shave every day."
"It's salt...um...it's pepper."
Then she settled back into my lap as King Triton threw a fit that Sebastian had allowed Ariel near humans...
It had been a long and frustrating day with the girls. Maunday Thursday service, especially, was pretty bad. Elie kept trying to dance (which is fine during hymns, but a three year old twirling during the sermon is just plain wierd) and ran from person to person (is it a good thing that the girls think everybody in a pew is their pal?) and her whisper is just about three decibels quieter than a machine gun... So my blood pressure is going up and I'm thinking of ways that I can sneak her out to my office and spank her into next week (of course I don't...but I THINK about it...). And I'm so embarassed and frustrated and annoyed... (and one woman made the comment that it's always an...experience...going to a solemn service with Elie - several people said they were precious - which is church code for my kids used to do that and I'm glad they're too old to act like that and I'm really glad it WASN'T my kids...).
So we get home and Lori and Rachel go to Walmart and Elie and I are at home, watching the aforementioned aquatic classic. And the phone rings and it's a woman from church saying what a blessing our girls were to her tonight...and she really meant it. That Elie especially - but both girls - really brought joy to her during the service.
And all was forgiven.
And then she looked at me and said, "Daddy, I'm in love."
You know what, honey? I am too...
Um...you're three... (actually, my mind flashed foward about 13 years to when she says that to me and means some boy who will be totally inappropriate for my little princess...visions of trying to scare him off with a variety of faked insanities...)
So, I say, "With who?"
"With you. And with Rachie. And with Mommy." Then she hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek - for which I was rewarded with..."Ow!"
She twisted my chin. "Why do you have pepper here?"
"No, that's my beard. I need to shave it off."
"Why did you shave off your beard? I like your beard."
"I shave every day."
"It's salt...um...it's pepper."
Then she settled back into my lap as King Triton threw a fit that Sebastian had allowed Ariel near humans...
It had been a long and frustrating day with the girls. Maunday Thursday service, especially, was pretty bad. Elie kept trying to dance (which is fine during hymns, but a three year old twirling during the sermon is just plain wierd) and ran from person to person (is it a good thing that the girls think everybody in a pew is their pal?) and her whisper is just about three decibels quieter than a machine gun... So my blood pressure is going up and I'm thinking of ways that I can sneak her out to my office and spank her into next week (of course I don't...but I THINK about it...). And I'm so embarassed and frustrated and annoyed... (and one woman made the comment that it's always an...experience...going to a solemn service with Elie - several people said they were precious - which is church code for my kids used to do that and I'm glad they're too old to act like that and I'm really glad it WASN'T my kids...).
So we get home and Lori and Rachel go to Walmart and Elie and I are at home, watching the aforementioned aquatic classic. And the phone rings and it's a woman from church saying what a blessing our girls were to her tonight...and she really meant it. That Elie especially - but both girls - really brought joy to her during the service.
And all was forgiven.
And then she looked at me and said, "Daddy, I'm in love."
You know what, honey? I am too...
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