Mysteries of Fatherhood...

This is a quick look back at a few interesting things that happened in the past week in our household...

Freaky Friday

Mystery #1 - The Mystery Spot on my shirt...

As I sat in a meeting on Friday, I happened to look over at my shoulder.  I was a little horrified by what I saw...(see above).  Somehow, I had some sort of junk on the shoulder of my shirt!

At first I thought that somehow, inexplicably, I had put on a dirty shirt.  I was mystified by how that "stain" could have gotten there.  Then I realized what had happened.  On my way out the door that morning, I had given E. (my three year old daughter) a big hug and swung her around.  E. had buried her face in my shoulder when I did that.  Unfortunately, E. had been enjoying yogurt or chocolate milk that morning and had transferred that "breakfast" to my shirt when I hugged her on my way out the door.

Once I realized what it was, my panic subsided a bit and I really actually started missing E. and her mischievous smile and adorable little giggle.  I thought about leaving my shirt the way it was, but then decided that I didn't want to have to explain the whole thing if anyone in the office noticed.

Still, it made me grateful to be E.'s dad and grateful to have such amazing kids that really do brighten my day and give meaning to my life.

The Case of the Missing Tooth

Mystery #2 - The Tooth Fairy Mystery

S., my middle child, lost a tooth last week.  It was one of his baby molars and it had been loose for a couple of weeks.  To my shame, the tooth was actually silver because he got a pretty bad cavity in it when he was a kid.  I'm still not sure how our brushing efforts managed to miss that tooth, but we have since tightened up our nighttime tooth brushing ritual and the kids have a string of perfect check-ups from our pediatric dentist to prove it.

Anyway, S. put the tooth under his pillow and hoped that the tooth fairy would leave him some coinage for it. J. had no money in her wallet, so I had to give her the only thing I had in my wallet--a $5 bill.  (Which I've read is the going rate for teeth these days anyway...)

I wanted to take a picture of the tooth, so I asked J. where it was a couple of days later.  She said that S. had "found" the tooth in J.'s nightstand and was sad that the Tooth Fairy had "forgotten" it.  He asked if he could take it to school for show and tell, so J. let him.

Then I went to S. to check on the tooth.  I still hadn't given up on getting a picture of the tooth (you know...for this blog--if not for posterity!  =o)  ).  I also hoped maybe to be able to try and salvage some of the Tooth Fairy legend if possible.  ;)

I asked S. where his tooth was and he said that he never had it.  He then proceeded to tell me how disappointed that he was that he "only" got $5 for the tooth--he was hoping for $10!  Man, when I was a kid, I felt lucky to get a silver dollar for a tooth!

I remember getting these under my pillow when I was a kid...

I guess there's been some inflation going on.  But at any rate, the tooth remains missing and what actually happened to it is still a mystery.  Maybe the tooth fairy managed to get ahold of it after all!

Mystery #3 - "Curiouser and Curiouser"

"No, No!" said the Queen.  "Sentence first -- verdict afterwards'"
"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly.  "The idea of having the sentence first!"

Last Sunday morning, I woke up and started getting ready for church.  J. came in and said, "What were you dreaming about last night?"

I couldn't really remember, so I told her that I couldn't remember.

J. then told me that I had said "Objection your honor!" so loudly in my sleep that it woke her up.

My dream that night remains a mystery.  I'm sure, however, that whatever prompted such an outburst during my sleep was thoroughly objectionable!  =o)