Fathers Day Early

Julie and I handle Mothers Day and Fathers Day a little differently. Jeb is only 3 and half... but we decided to let him pick out our presents this year. Honestly we didn't know what to expect, but if pressed I suspect we both would've predicted that he would get us firetrucks, airplanes, or John Deere Tractors. These things would make him happy, so in the mind of a three-year-old, it seemed reasonable to conclude that they please us as well. What we learned was, little boys pay a lot more attention than you may think they do.

About three or four days before Mothers Day I was taking the boys to get some Ol' Macdonalds sausage, their most favorite breakfast. On the way, I explained to Jeb what Mothers Day was... and I asked him what we could get mommy that would make her happy.

"ummmmmmm.... I don't know."

"well... what does mommy like?"

"Ummm... "

And then he blurted out his answer. Totally perfect. Now before I spill the beans and tell ya what he got his Mommy you need some background. Its important to understand just how perfect this gift is.

See... Julie has stomach issues. When she's stressed, or nervous, or uptight, her stomach ties itself up in knots. Now... as a resident working 80-hours per week... stressing over steps 2 and 3 of the Boards.. I'm sure you can imagine that her stomach was tied up quite a bit over the last 5 years.

So Sunday Morning rolls around... Mothers Day... and Julie is in the our bathroom getting ready for church. In walk the boys... Each holding a bottle of Pepto.

What makes mommy happy Jeb?

Pink Medicine!

We had no idea Jeb even knew it. We keep pepto stached all over the house. I'll bet there are at least 5 bottles around here right now. The poor girl doesn't even measure it when she takes it... she just turns up the bottle and chugs. But usually she drank it most often at night after he was in bed. We didn't even know he knew about it. Now I understand... for lots of folks that wouldn't mean much... and they'd probably be disappointed if that was all they got... but Julie's not most folks. When Jeb told me what he wanted to get her, I knew anything I did on top of that would just diminish the thing.

It wasn't pepto to her. To her it was tangible evidence that her little boy knows her, and pays more attention that she realized. She didn't cry... but she wanted to real bad.

Well... fast forward to last night...

Eli's in the bed... Jeb and Julie get home from Vacation Bible School and he comes running into the house.

"Its a Secret! Its a Secret Daddy!"

I figured he learned something at VBS and didn't give it another thought. The three of us plopped down on the bed and started talking about what he did that night.

"I played on the playground... and I chased the boy... and I fell down. I got a boo boo... I got the blood. I got a band-aid... I got two band-aids... I got a bug bite... and I got a the blood when I fell down. and I made icecream! And we got a guitar..."

Now I just thought he ment they got out a guitar and played at VBS. But Julie's jaw dropped and her eyes got big.. and we both knew she was busted.

What can we get daddy to make him happy Jeb?

ummm... a guitar!

Remember back when I had that back surgery? That was 2004 I guess... but I knew I was gonna be laid up, so I bought this cheap little 20 dollar guitar off the internet to learn to play. Not suprisingly after a couple months the body of the thing broke and that was that... no big loss... it had kept me from going insane while I was stuck in a chair for weeks, so I chalked it up as money well spent. I don't think Jeb was even two... but he remembered. My bein' hurt left an impression on the boy. To this day if someone says something about my back hurting he gets really serious... like he's worried. So way way back... when he wasn't even two yet... he was paying attention. He knew what was going on... even if he couldn't say it.

Oh... and my father's day present... the one I got a few days early?



Thanks buddy. That'll work.

Its beautiful. It sounds awesome. It's easy to fret. I doubt I could've picked out a better one for my own self.

Pay attention to them youngins y'all. They pay attention to you, and they know a whole lot more about what's goin' on than you may think.

Now leave me be... I'm trying to re-learn these chords.