A Story About Your Dad

I was sitting at the dining table at breakfast this morning with Ava. She had several blueberries that she was able to feed herself but still needed help with her applesauce. In between feeding her bites of applesauce, she would point to the three rooster oil paintings hanging on the wall to her left. I don't know why this silly repetition has stuck, but it has. Whenever Ava points to the roosters, Jeremy and I both take advantage of this "teachable moment." We will point to the first painting and say, "rooster number one; cock-a-doodle-doo!" We will then point to the second painting and say, "rooster number two; cock-a-doodle-doo!" Then we will point to the third rooster painting and say, "rooster number three; cock-a-doodle-doo!" Ava gets a kick out of this silly breakfast tradition. :) Go ahead and laugh at us! I know you want too! But, I bet every family has a silly thing that they say or do!

Anyway, it made me think of the time that Jeremy and I went into Pier 1 Imports to shop. We had been married less than a year and went on one of our frequent "dates" to Towne East Mall in Mesquite, TX. After we left the mall, we went to Pier 1 per my request. Jeremy was bored to death because he would rather be shopping in a used cd store. He decided to make my shopping trip a really bad experience. He wasn't doing it to be selfish, he was really doing it more to keep himself occupied and to amuse the other clientele. 

As soon as we walked into the store, he found a very large plaster rooster. It was not an attractive rooster. It was a whimsical one that is supposed to sit on the edge of a shelf with its legs dangling off. I think it even had on wire rimmed eye glasses. Jeremy took the rooster off the shelf and started singing very loudly, "YEAH, HERE COMES THE ROOSTER!!! OH YEAH!!! OH, HE AIN'T GONNA DIE!" If you are a fan of Alice In Chains, then you know that this is one of their songs. My eyes got as round as saucers and I walked in the opposite direction to hide my embarrassment. I thought that if I ignored him, he would stop. Not only did he not stop, he followed me around the store holding the rooster like a puppet and continued to sing loud enough for customers to take notice and giggle in response. That was just the ammunition he needed to continue, only louder. I am not lying when I say that my chest started getting tight. I finally turned around and asked him if we could just go home. He put the rooster down and said, "sure." We walked out of that store as quickly as possible and I think I even used my hair to shield my face.

There is no point or moral to this story. It is just a silly memory that I want Ava and Greta to know about. Hopefully, their daddy will not embarrass my two sweet girls the way he embarrassed me that day! Over the past 7 years, I have really tried to "teach" him how to act in public! Every time I look at our oil painting roosters, I remember this and grin.