July 5, 2011

A few random thoughts following 4th of July weekend…

I got this text from my wife the other day – “Ariel just threw a fit at the ATM because she wanted to put the checks I was depositing into her piggy bank. And then she wanted the $400 I took out... for her piggy bank. Then she held my receipts hostage until I promised her a quarter for her piggy bank. She then told me she wanted a “whole lot of quarters.” Note to self, don't take her to ATM again.” Just wanted to make sure everyone realized my wife is funny too. It seems clear to me that someday Ariel’s either going to run an organized crime syndicate…or she’ll be the Fed Chairman. There is no in-between. Both, maybe…

I was coloring with Ariel and I finished one part of the picture pretty quickly. She asked me how I was able to do it so fast. I told her I must be talented. She exclaimed, “Talented! Wow, Daddy! You’re coming up with some WORDS today!”

Last weekend Ariel’s best friend was going to see a performance of Beauty and the Beast and her parents took Ariel too. Let me just say, if you’re going to have kids, it’s a total must to have friends like this couple (let’s just go ahead and call them the Fabulouses), who are ridiculously awesome and will take your child for the afternoon and show her a good time, and drop her off at the end of the day. Seriously, I have no idea how you’re supposed to parent a child without friends like the Fabulouses, and there can’t really be a lot of them out there, so to everyone who doesn’t have them, I feel your pain. And no, I’m not lending them out, so don’t even go there. So, we then had the afternoon (mostly) to ourselves, since Jasmine is so easy. She just rolls with whatever. So what did we do to take advantage of this wonderful gift? This 5 hour respite from the tumultuous whirlwind that IS a weekend day with Princess Ariel? Well, we couldn’t take a spa day, so we did the next best thing. We went to COSTCO. Who dares say life as a parent isn’t glamorous and exciting?

On the way home tonight Belle and I were talking about Jasmine and Belle commented on how easy she was today (we went to the fair – and BOTH of our princesses were great). I remarked that Jasmine’s ALWAYS easy and since I’ve been watching The Wire (easily in the conversation for the best show in TV history) non-stop lately, I slipped into Wire-speak and said that was just “how she be.” Belle of course needed that one repeated, and I laughed and said I’ve been watching too much of The Wire. Ariel then screams from the back that THERE IS NO WIRE and we shouldn’t say ANYTHING about a wire! You see, it’s just that sort of out-of-leftfield crazy-angry-tantrum-based-on-nothing that keeps you on your toes in my world. I guess she would have preferred a Sopranos reference instead. I’ll remember that for next time.