Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dad Angels

Tuesday was such a nice day that when Toby got home we decided to do some gardening, and no Mrs. Obama had no influence on our choice to plant a garden, but I would like a fancy dress like her gardening dress. We still had some tomato and pepper plants to plant. Toby wanted to ride bikes, but we really needed to do the gardening (and I was sore from riding bikes on Monday). When Jesse got home from work and her workout, she wanted to ride motorcycles. I knew there was no holding them back, and gave in graciously. While I fixed supper, they got on their gear and rode off. Toby roared passed the house leaving Jesse in the dirt and me not able to get a photo of them riding together. Jesse went much slower down the driveway. I guess Toby thought he would roar ahead of her and maybe she would catch up. Maybe he thought he could ride fast and then circle back to check on her. Who knows what men really think!

Jesse had mentioned that she was low on gas, but I had told her that she and her dad could stop and get some gas at the truck stop. Since Toby roared off, he was not privileged to this conversation. Sure enough, Jes ran out of gas, and Toby had to come back for her. Next, her brakes locked up, and she was stuck in the middle of the road until Toby came back again. Eventually they made it home safely, but Toby’s eyes were still rolling at her, and she was still explaining herself.

It reminded me of a scene I saw one Saturday morning while I was waiting for Toby to come out of AutoZone. A man with a very little girl was walking across the parking lot into AutoZone. The little girl’s hair was sticking out in all directions, her clothes were a mess, and she trotted happily along beside her dad, but was not holding his hand. The dad seemed oblivious to her and was intent on AutoZone. It made me think of the times that my dad got my brother and me up on Saturday morning to run errands with him and to give Mom some quiet time to sleep in. The difference was that Dad always insisted on my hair being pulled back in a ponytail before he would take me with him. This other Dad was not so thoughtful. I bet his wife appreciated his taking the daughter off with him. I bet the daughter loved it (like I used to). But I bet the mother had no idea how bad her daughter looked and would have been horrified to see that the dad was not holding her hand in the parking lot. All went fine, though. Mothers just worry about such things- dads not so much. Dads seem to have some sort of angel watching over them.

10 comments:

Mrs. Bear said...

Brian still refers to the times he took Erin with him on Sat mornings...she was the kid with uncombed hair and a cap on, two different shoes and unmatched clothes and always mismatched socks. Heck we were just glad she had on some clothes!!!! Now as she has turned into a beautiful young woman (that takes forever to be ready to go somewhere) I think Brian misses his mismatched girl!!!

Dale said...

Well my dear, dads worry too just not about the same things that moms may worry about! You also have to remember that your dad was a very special man and his errand runs with his children were probably just as special for him as they were for mom. There was no doubt about how much he loved his children and obviously love being around you guys.

Bag Blog said...

Dale, Dad always told about the time he took Pete with us on a Sat. morning - Pete was still in diapers. We were sitting at the soda fountain in Iowa Park drugstore where Dad was having coffee with his cronies. Dad got a whiff of something and without thinking he stuck his finger in Pete's diaper. It was a big mistake, but I still remember Dad laughing about it.

Anny, I will always think of Erin standing on the railing around your porch - butt naked saying, "Toby, will you catch me if I jump?"

Buck said...

"Who knows what men really think!"

Think? Well, now... there's CREDIT! I mostly react, as opposed to actual... ya know... heavy-duty mental activity. Makes life easier and much more exciting. ;-)

Jesse's brakes locked up? That is NOT a good thing. Any further explanation?

Bag Blog said...

Buck, I couldn't get a straight story out of those two. Jesse bought some brake fluid - another funny story of women in a man's world. Toby did not seem to know what the problem was.

Jesse Baggett said...

We think it is water/air in the brake fluid that is expanding and locking up the wheel. We are going to flush the brake fluid and see if that doesn't help.

Buck said...

The water/air thing sounds plausible. I had that happen to my old RD after it sat in storage for three years while I was in England. I eventually wound up replacing the front brake line, too.

Becky G said...

I'll bet if the dads worked as hard as we do to bring these children into the world, they'd worry as much as we do, too! But no, for them, it's two minutes of fun and they're done.

Word verification: Bared. Kind of appropriate, don't you think?

Buck said...

"But no, for them, it's two minutes of fun and they're done."

Normally I just ignore you. But that's about as ignorant a comment as I've ever read. Anywhere. Period, full-stop.

Dave (aka Buckskins Rule) said...

I don't think I stopped holding my daughters hands in parking lots and stores until there were about ten. Too paranoid about there safety.

And even I wouldn't have let them leave the house looking bedraggled.