Apparently, Evilness & Fashion Sense Don't Go Hand In Hand
Have you ever met someone who was just down right mean? When I say mean, I’m talking about borderline evil! I have met such a person, I have looked them in their eyes and lowered my head in shame due to their behavior. It isn’t easy to stare down the face of evil and walk away unscathed, but somebody has to do it, someone has to stand up for the little people, and yesterday, that someone was Ty.
How many of you know someone who is genuinely funny? I mean someone whose jokes literally make you keel over with laughter. They’re good people to have around right? These types of people can turn a bad day around with a few simple words. When they’re around, a smile is bound to be landing on your face within minutes. A person who can tell a good joke won’t find themselves with a shortage of friends very often, and for good reason. But what about those friends who attempt to be funny and just fail at it miserably? The people who couldn’t tell a good joke if there was a chicken and a road right in front of them (wait a minute, considering that last joke, am I one of those people?) That’s neither here nor there, this isn’t about me. No, instead, it’s about a little boy, a 3 year old little boy who I’m afraid is incapable of telling a joke. In my expert funny accountant opinion, I’d say he’s a class 5 bad joke teller. We all know that those classified as class five, are destined to live a life of being laughed at instead of laughed with. It hurts my heart that my very own little boy is walking down such a humiliating road, but without forking over thousands on improv comedy classes, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. If things continue in this manner, Tre may never know the joy of being able to make people laugh.
So Ty has been back for over a week now and I can honestly say that he definitely can tell that we missed him. From the time we picked him up at the airport until the time he went sleep that first night, you would have thought that all four of us were glued together at the hip. Activity after activity, game after game, discussion after discussion, it was all Ty, all the time. That first day, you would have thought we were the perfect ideal family, all smiling faces and loving gestures. Then the sunset, the moon came out and I swear those kids turned into werewolves overnight. The fighting, bickering, and competition picked up right where it left off, and that’s when I knew, that our family was back to normal. Read on to hear more about that magical event filled day that Ty came back home to his family. Check back next week to read about the days that followed, once the parade paraphinala was taken down and the cameras stopped rolling. Today, you get the happily ever after fairy tale, next week you get the nightmare!
Okay, so maybe “overcome the odds” is a bit much for the actual content of this post, but in a way, it is actually pretty fitting. That’s because Tre did overcome the odds; the odds of having an overdramatic Dad who didn’t take time out to think about his actions before actually acting on them. If you’re a bit confused, don’t worry, things are about to become clear in 3…2…1 remember this post: “A Horrifying Fairy Tale”? Yup that one, the one were I got a little too involved with my bedtime story duties. If you recall, my Big Bad Wolf was just a little too big and bad for Tre’s liking. It took Tre a while to overcome my debacle, but eventually the “Three Little Pigs” became his favorite book, replacing “Jack and the Beanstalk” completely. In fact, he’s listened to the book so much that we no longer have to read it to him, he takes care of that these days. Check it out!
From the look of the picture above, I guess it’s pretty safe to say that Ty lost this one. I really wish that I could tell you guys that this was an epic battle for the ages, complete with a training montage, Rocky Balboa style; but alas, I can’t. This thing was over before it even got started, I’m talking split second, one hitter quitter, wam bam thank you Ma’am. Looking at that picture, all I can think is, why my boy? What could I have done differently to protect him? The answer to those questions is staring me right in the face; I should have stopped this along time ago.
As a kid we are taught to dream big, we all did it, spent hours thinking of ways to fulfill our dreams; dreams that for most of us, never came true. For most of us, there comes a moment when you realize that your dream is exactly that, a dream; one that will most likely never become a realization. Ty just recently went through this traumatic experience and unfortunately, it came at the hands of his very own little brother. Tre crushed one of Ty’s hopes and dreams, and I was left to do damage control and pick up the pieces.
You know the old saying “sleep is the cousin of death?” Well apparently, Tre heard this saying and is doing all he can to avoid any family member of that pesky noun “death”. Lately, the boy has been fighting his sleep as if it were a punching bag and he was Muhammad Ali. Most of the things contributing to his abrasion to night night time are internal factors; things such as curiosity, nosiness, and an over active imagination. However, there are also external factors that played a part in the demise of this young toddler’s sleeping habits. Those external factors were contributed by none other than yours truly! Yes, I made a fatal mistake at bedtime and instead of regulating my son’s sleep pattern, I hindered it. I’m not proud of it, but I do stand by my actions.
Who would have thought that these would be so valuable
How many times have you received a gift that you just didn’t want? I mean one that was so bad, you actually considered giving it back to the person who gave it to you? Now that’s a pretty bold move, considering it’s the thought that counts. Returning a gift to someone basically says not only does your gift suck, but I also don’t care much about your feelings. Who would be so callous to do such a thing? You guessed it, I would! I have done it, and probably shouldn’t be so smug about my actions. The gift giver was my mother.
For those of you that know me, you already have an understanding of how “out of left field” I can be. I enjoy having a good time and bringing joy to the people that I love; so when I got a text a few weeks ago saying that Ty would like to discuss the possibility of watching TV at night on the weekends, I immediately knew that it would be an opportunity to have some family fun.
I don’t know where my ideas come from, but I do know that my family enjoys them and that’s all that matters. I encourage all of you to break the mold, and invent new and exciting ways to enjoy family time. The video that you see here was my stab at it, and we had a great time doing it. Ty gained the opportunity to watch TV until he falls asleep on the weekends, but he also learned that even though you may have earned the right to something, it isn’t always handed to you. Sometimes you have to fight for it and prove that you actually deserve it. The fact that he was able to gain such a valuable lesson, while having fun is quite an accomplishment in my book.
Do you have any ideas or examples of ways that you interact with your kids in an unconventional way to teach them values, or just to break the monotony of board games and standard “family time” activities? If so, I’d love to hear about them.
Last night I tweeted a tweet that went a little something like this: “Silly Bandz are ruining the world, yes the world! The children are the future and Silly Bandz are corrupting them, therefore the world is doomed!” I meant every word of that statement and I stand by it. The things I’ve seen in association with these simple rubber bands have been enough to make a sane man check himself into Bellevue and never come out. You want to know why the Swine Flu pandemic never happened, well it’s because the Bandz pandemic took over first. I’ve seen frightening things people, and in an effort to educate you on the fight against Silly Bandz, I will share those memories that I fought so hard to repress, putting myself through pain and anguish all for the greater good of mankind.
