My husband turned 40 today. I took my 4-year-old to the dollar store so should could pick out and pay for gifts all by herself. She chose:
- A Hot-Wheels freezer pack (“for boo-boos, bumps and bruises,” says the package)
- A laminated map of the human digestive system
- A plastic pot of pink polyester flowers
- Some gag glasses (you know, the kind with the plastic nose attached)
- A tub of tutti-fruitti gumdrops shaped like “Os,” because “Daddy likes the letter O” (a fun fact about Daddy I’d never heard before)
She also picked out his card. It’s a Bar Mitzvah card. She can’t read yet, so she doesn’t know that, and she chose it because it had a picture of a guy dancing under a disco ball. She said “That’s Daddy dancing.” Daddy doesn’t dance. We had our wedding reception on a dinner cruise boat to ensure there would be no dancing required.
Sometimes family history is what’s happening right here, right in front of you.
Photo by Mykl Roventine
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Best presents ever. Thanks for the smile.
.-= Amy Coffin´s last blog post: Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Angel Edition =-.
I could use a map of the digestive system, and I immediately grasp the advantages of lamination for such an article.
.-= Amy Boland´s last blog post: What to Make with What’s Left: Compost =-.
Love the Bar Mitzvah card!
There’s such genius in each of those choices! Something for comfort, something beautiful to look at (and imperishable!), something to feed the sense of humor, something simple and sweet just because “he likes it”… and a digestive map for a 40-year-old, totally necessary! Smartest kid ever and a better gift-giver than I.
I don’t have little ones at home anymore. Thanks for the chuckle!
.-= Nancy´s last blog post: Common, Uncommon. Too Many, Too Few. =-.
“Daddy doesn’t dance”
Better verify that.
We did not dance at our wedding either. Others did, but we didn’t do the whole “first dance” thing because I don’t dance. I’m a musician, I’d rather watch the band than dance. This excuse served me well for about 12 years until my wifes BFF got married. Because the BFF’s father was deceased, instead of the traditional father/daughter drek, she had the entire wedding party dance. My wife had been teasing for weeks that she was going to have to lead, we’d just sway back and forth, blah blah blah. When the time finally came, we got up and I guided and glided her across the floor like we were on Dancing with the Stars. Dumbfounded she looks at me and says “I thought you couldn’t dance?”
“I never said I ‘couldn’t’ dance. I said I ‘didn’t’ dance. There’s a difference.”
Surprisingly, we just celebrated our 15th anniversary. But I do still hear about this on a weekly basis.
I’ve enjoyed your blogposts for a while, but just had to finally comment. This is a clever and well-written piece that makes us all think….a reminder of the value of every day events. Thanks.
Nancy
Thank you!