Greatest Daddy in the World

We recently added The Andy Griffith Show to our repertoire of tv shows. The simple stories of father and son are a nice complement to the madcap capers of McHale’s Navy.

In an episode we watched the other night, Opie insisted that his dad knew more than anyone else in the county, than anyone else in the state, than anyone else in the whole country. In fact, he had the greatest pa in the whole world. No one was going to convince him otherwise.

Later that evening, when Husband came home from work, the boys ran into his arms…”You are the greatest Daddy in the whole world!” Never underestimate the influence of television.

A Future Husband

Over the past few weeks, the boys have really enjoyed watching DVDs of Ken Davis, a very gifted comedian and storyteller. As a result, we have now added stand-up comedy to our repertoire of resources for teaching life skills to our kids. In one of his routines, he implores women to speak directly to men and not to ask questions for which there is no answer. For example, when a man is getting ready to go out, don’t ask, “Are you going to go out wearing that?” There is no good answer to that question. If the man says no, he does not get to go where he wanted to go. If he says yes, he gets berated for his choice in clothes. Just say what you mean.

The other day, I said to Son #1, “Do you want to go upstairs and take a shower?” He looked at his father – with a just between us guys look - and asked, “Is that what that funny guy was talking about?” Husband nodded with a look that cautioned him to tread lightly. Son #1 turned and said to me, “Mommy, if you want me to take a shower, just say so. Don’t ask me a question that I cannot answer.”

I hope that somewhere there is a young girl who is also learning the same life lesson and that someday her path crosses that of Son #1.