Daddy's Fish BowlA Clear View Of A Father's Family Experiences

A few days ago, a super enthusiastic Tre came running up to me to introduce me to his new friend, a lady friend at that.  He was so excited and happy that this lady was now in his life, he kind of caught me off guard as I had just got out the shower.  Believe me, meeting my son’s new friend, fresh out of the shower isn’t the way I want any relationship to begin.  When I turned around and laid eyes on his new lady friend, I was shocked, it baffled me that a lady of this caliper had befriended my son.  The shock quickly turned to concern, why is this lady a friend of my 4 year old son?  Why is she in our house? Most importantly, why was she starring at me in my towel fresh out of the shower?

This friend was definitely a problem and I planned to make sure that Tre had no part of this lady’s perverted plan to befriend a 4 year old child.  I immediately told Tre to get away from her, that she has no business in our house.  The tears that almost immediately formed in his eyes let me know that this lady had a serious hold on him; he was completely enamored by her.  What type of magic was she working?  Whatever it was, it had Tre all wrapped up, he was googly eyed and trans-like as he pleaded with me to let his new friend, his best buddy as he called her, stay and play with him.  Obviously, her spell wasn’t restricted only to the littlest Keith, because for some odd reason, I agreed with Tre’s request and allowed this lady to play with my son.  It was against my better judgment, but between his tears and her persuasive nature, I felt powerless to stop it.

Tre was ecstatic, he played with the lady for hours, they were inseparable.  If you saw Tre, the lady was right by his side, it was quite concerning to say the least.  I felt powerless to the situation though, so all I could do is hope and pray that she got bored and left him alone.  I knew it would be devastating for Tre, but the relationship between him and this lady was unfit and quite frankly absurd, so I was willing to see his joy fade in order for justice to prevail.

Not long after, my prayers were answered, and I actually felt horrible.  The lady had left Tre, but not in the fashion that I had hoped.  As I looked over at the two of them, I noticed that the lady didn’t have as much spunk and pizzazz to her as when we were first introduced.  Upon closer investigation, I learned that the lady was dead.  Yes, the lady died right in our house, it was very eerie to say the least.  But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Tre; he was so young, so sheltered, he had never dealt with death before.  I couldn’t let this be his first experience, not like this, not with a lady that took the time to befriend him, a lady that listened to his every word, a lady that brought him so much excitement.  I just couldn’t break his little heart!

So like any respectable father, I did what needed to be done. I went to the basement window where 3 or 4 ladybugs had gathered on this rather warm winter day, picked one up and slyly replaced his expired lady friend with the new one.  Tre never knew how close he came to losing a loved one that day and I came to terms with the fact that some relationships, no matter how odd they may seem are beneficial.

If You Look Close, You Can See The Lady Friend

That night, Tre placed his lady friend in a cup near his bed and the next morning was shocked to find out that the lady had “left” in the middle of the night.  Luckily, he understood that she had other things to do and wasn’t too concerned.  Ah finally, the lady sage is behind us, I don’t have to watch my son carry a bug around our home any longer.

Or so I thought.  Yesterday, I just got a text from Fefe saying that Tre found the ladybug.  You know, the dead one, the one that in my haste to replace, I flicked on the carpet somewhere and couldn’t locate it for the life of me?  Yeah that one, well he swears that his friend has come back to play with him and she’s just sleep right now, smh, here we go again.