Sep 04 2007
What can a dad say, but “that’s me.”
Last night at dinner there was an exchange worth immortalizing. I’ll bring you in in the middle, but it’s not hard to catch up with our meal time conversations.
I was looking over at Hannah (who was in Laura’s place – we’ve been playing musical chairs at the dinner table lately. I think it’s because Laura wants to sit at the end now…) and Hannah looked back at me. We had a bit of a staring contest going on, but since it was dinner we stopped to grab a bite to eat. That’s when I realized I had missed a terrific opportunity to make a funny face. Those times just don’t come often enough, in my opinion.
So I said, “Hey, can you do this?” And I flared my nostrils a few times in rapid succession. Hannah just shook her head and looked back down at her plate – she doesn’t really eat, she picks at her food which requires much visual inspection.
Joshua was intrigued and asked, “What are you doing?” So I showed him and Caleb across the table. Joshua started pinching his nose to make it move.
“It’s not as easy as it seems – in my mind I have to think: angry, relaxed, angry, relaxed. It takes some concentration.” I instructed.
Laura interjected, “It is too easy, look.” And she fluttered her nostrils with ease.
I turned to see and replied, “Well, it’s not easy for me.”
At that point I had taken my eye off of Joshua. He interrupted, “Well I know I can do this!”
I turned to see him burrowing his finger up into his nose. Not quite past the first knuckle and he got the response he was looking for: An “eww” from Hannah, a giggle from Caleb, and the parental headshake and shrugging glance between Laura and me.
It’s times like that when I realize just how much my boy is just like me. Why hadn’t I thought of that!