The Holidays

We saved a TON of money last night. Instead of candy, we handed out all of the Taco Bell hot sauce packets we had in our junk drawer.

Halloween is the holiday season kickoff. I love the holidays. I always have. Sure, there were times when I was lonely, with no where to go, but I found a way to overcome those times and still have fun by going to see a movie, or treating myself to a nice dinner out.

But, like most adults, I think kids make the holidays fun. I have three wonderful children, all so lovingly weird and different, in a very good way. Once, I was driving somewhere with my young son during the Christmas season. Up on a hill nearby, I noticed that just below a restaurant, there were white Christmas lights depicting the Christian symbol of the fish. I told Eric to look at the hill and see the fish. As he did, I said, "Do you know what that means"? He said," Sushi"?
I was laughing so hard, I had to pull the car over for a few minutes. Killer funny. Sarah, my eldest daughter saw me mixing some tuna for lunch one day and as I was cutting celery, onions and adding other ingredients, she said, "Daddy, have you ever noticed that the older you get, the more junk you put in your tuna"? Again, I was done. That struck me as so funny, I totally lost it.

My other daughter, Cecilee, is also very funny. She performs stand up comedy in Washington state. I obviously read her Facebook posts and almost always get a great laugh. Sarah gets on a roll sometimes, and when she does, my stomach is going to hurt for a while from laughing. Once she starts, she won't let up. She is very funny.

Once, while in a grocery store, Eric saw a clerk nearby and yelled," I don't care what you do to me, I'm never going to steal for you again "! Really? What the heck do you do when your kid throws you under that kind of bus? You just leave before someone calls the cops.

Other times, I would start to put my arm around him and, if there was an audience, he would severely flinch and/or beg me not to hurt him again. The kid was nuts. He's still nuts, but now he has children who love to be funny. I can't wait to give them some ideas.

I have another son, at least I consider him my son, Austin. When he was two years old, nearing three, he would watch the original Batman movie with me nearly every day. So, when he was home from pre-school, I would pick him up by his shirt and our dialogue would be," Don't kill me, man, don't kill me". "I'm not going to kill you, I just want you to tell your friends about me". "Who are you, man"? "I'm Batman". Then I would toss him on the couch.

Another time, we were sitting around the crowded pool area of our condo complex. Austin was sitting quietly, watching the people. He suddenly leaned forward and yelled, "This town needs an enema"! After an awkward pause, everyone was laughing hard. It was a line from the movie as well, so I had to start working on public and private lines with him.

My kids are so much fun. Even if I can't be with them during the holidays, we still have fun together. Why? Because they're every bit as crazy as their old man.

See you tomorrow.

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