Random Occurrences

Being the father of three young boys, ages 6,5,and 2, you hear some pretty memorable remarks. Here are a few of the recent ones that I remember.

....as their father is tucking them in at night, 6 year old says " hey dad, what does contact mean?"

Father: "How did you hear contact used?"

6 year old: "Betty please contact the office, Betty."

Father: "Contact means when you want somebody to talk to you about something, or get someone's attention so they might help you out with something" (There, I think that explanation was pretty clear, good job Dad.)

5 year old, as I turn out the lights,: "Hey Dad, can you contact me a glass of water?"



I was not present for this next one so it was recounted to me by way of their Aunt who was present.

....as Grandma (Gappy) is reading them a story , kind of scary, the 6 year old makes a face to mimic something out of the pages.

5 year old: "Stop it!! You're freakin' my head off!!


My five year old is riding with me in the pick-up and we have agreed to share my 44 oz. Pepsi fountain drink as our own little secret. He keeps leaning forward to take out the cup and put it back in the cup holder, all the while I am thinking it is only a matter of time before the whole thing ends up on the floor. My solution is for me to hold it, as I'm trying to drive this way I think this might not be such a good idea, and I attempt to put it back in the cup holder. I half way miss but am able to catch it and safely get it back in the holder.

As my son watches this circus act he calmly states: " I heard a commercial on the T.V. say you are not supposed to drink and drive."

I reply, "..and now we know why."

Why Me?!

Another day, I get up and think about what needs to be done. Get to all the jobs at work, start looking through old SOP's so we can update them,(thrilling), scheduling new jobs, when they will start, what materials need to be ordered, when they need to be delivered, don't forget to take the weather into consideration, could throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing, 50% it will snow, 50% just rain, 50% chance partly cloudy, hey that doesn't add up. Better have a back up plan for each scenario. 14 employees counting on you to keep them busy, they have families to you know.

Don't forget trying to get to the gym at 5:00 a.m. because that's the only time of the day you have to take care of yourself.

How about the meetings for your second job, take care of those in the evening. What? Feed the kids? How about the dishes now, and make sure to get some laundry done. Hey, pay attention to your wife. She is your best friend after all.

Make sure to chaperone the high schoolers from your church this week-end, they can't be forgotten. Any yard work need taken care of? Birthday party out of town for your cousin. New tires on the family car. Flag football tourney this weekend. Coaches clinic Saturday. Help friends set-up their craft booth for next week.

Really sounds overwhelming, and sometimes it is. I am fortunate. Thank you.

Thank you for providing me with a job(actually 2). Thank you for such helpful employees. Thank you for my health. Thank you for providing food on my table. Thank you for the clothes on our backs. Thank you for my wife, she is my best friend. Thank you for the high schoolers interest. Thank you for the roof over our heads and a yard to play in. Thank you for my family. Thank you for friends. Thank you for a chance to coach.

Thank you.
This is life, and I'm living it. Thank you.
I don't know if I deserve or have earned all this, sometimes it makes me wonder, Why me?

TRICK or TREATING...again

Well we just completed our fourth year of pillaging the neighborhood for treats last night. The candy hi-jackers consisted my 6 year old, my 5 year old, my 2 year old, my wife, my mother, and my sister. Costumes this year were Superman, Darth Vader, and Tigger too. We covered approx. 14 blocks in the neighborhood and at that point it seemed someone slipped Superman some Kryptonite, the "Force" was drained from the Sith Lord, and the most wonderful thing about Tigger was he only had to be carried half of the time. It was in the mid to low thirties and that may have helped us increase our route by 50% over last year when one of the three amigo's had to call it quits early due to illness and the sleet and freezing rain stopped us after just a few blocks.

The candy selection was fantastic this year. The neighborhood really diversified. We hauled in snickers to bottle caps and tootsie rolls to skittles. Being a candy freak of the largest proportions myself I tried to keep the boys' mind on what a great job they did so they couldn't focus on getting an inventory started. This is important because now in the following week(s) to come, the real trick is to choke down some of the not so great stuff with a few of my favorites so the kids won't notice the embezzelment taking place. This is harder than you might think as candy is the greatest commodity known in the elementary school.

Don't worry though, they have no idea what they are up against. I am a professional at this game, and plan on eating snickers all the way to Thanksgiving. I'll keep you posted.