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Some friends help you clean your garage, others write posts for you when they know you don’t have the time. This one comes from my lifelong friend, Dave. Give it a read. You won’t be disappointed.
-Matt
Ok, this is funnier to me than anyone else, but I will share it with you as it has been making me laugh on and off for three days now.
Our son, who is three, is at the stage where playing is everything, but winning…winning is something different. For instance, no matter what place he gets when he crosses the finish line in Mario Cart Wii, he drops the controller, throws his arms triumphantly into the air and proudly proclaims, ‘I win!’
This, of course is greeted by a series of ‘Yeahs!’ And ‘Woo-hoos!’ from my wife and I. He is the happiest kid we have ever met and we want him to stay that way. When he is old enough to read, he’ll figure it out on his own.
So I came home from work three days ago, and went into the bedroom to shed my work attire and get comfortable. I hadn’t even gotten my shirt off when Ty came running into the room to enthusiastically announce to me that, ‘I watch Dodgers all by myself, Daddy.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘I turn TV ooonn. (spelled incorrectly to stress the emphasis he used) And then I watch Dodgers all by myself.’
I was a little shocked (and quite frankly very impressed) that he even knew the team’s name. He had never mentioned it before.
Now, I should tell you that from time to time, he has seen me flip on the TV in our bedroom to check the score of the Dodger game. And I have tried to explain the whole baseball thing to him many times. He tells me, ‘Yes, Daddy’ when I ask him if he understands, but I always felt he was just a little too young.
So when he tells me that he is watching the game by himself, I have to admit I was a little skeptical (our cable guide is not THAT user friendly). I laughed it off as his way of wanting to bond with me. We left the room, I turned the TV off and we went about playing with his matchbox cars, Mario Cart, etc. ‘Daddy. Play.’
As is often the case with my wife and me, Ty sort of floats back and forth between us both. ‘Mommy. Play.’ It was her turn and I moved on to other things. Those other things eventually led me back to the bedroom.
As I approach the bedroom door, I heard the faint sound of outdoor crowd applause. I stopped, turned my head to the side to find the source, and then I heard Vin Scully’s voice, ‘Three and two’s the count, bottom of the ninth, runners on first and second, two out.’ What the…?
I walk into the bedroom and lo-and-behold: Ty had planted himself directly onto my pillow, on the far side of the bed. The remote control was in hand and the TV was on the Dodger game. ‘I watch Dodgers all by myself, Daddy,’ he said with a grin. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and then pretended to take a deep interest in the game.
‘… not exactly by himself,’ I heard Valerie say from the closet (four feet away). He was far from alone, but in his mind he was in-charge and watchin’ the game…
I giggled like a child and jumped on the bed with him to savor this precious father, son (and mother – four feet away) moment. He pretended not to see me (as he was so-very-interested in the game). I stared at him until he broke a smile – but not his feigned interest in the game. He stared at the TV and in a straight face simply stated, ‘I watch Dodgers all by myself…with Daddy.’
I was giddy. I was strangely proud. I tickled the hell out of him and then we returned to the game. ‘What’s the score buddy?’ I glanced at the screen – our boys in blue were leading 2-0.
‘Nine, ‘he tells me.
‘Nine, Daddy. The score is nine.’
Classic.
It’s not the destination, but the journey. In the end, we all win.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Probably the best post ever written like ever.
Your child is a genius and obviously has fabulous taste in sports teams. And it is apparent that he was reading you the INNING.
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June 2nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I gotta tell you, I would rather tear my hair out by the roots than have ANY of my kids be able to name any sports team. But I love the “I win” thing, as my three year old is into that right now as well. Anything, anything at all, and he wins. It makes me happy to see him that thrilled about things, and so even though sports = vomit at my house, I get your thrill.
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