Dad’s Day Off

Adventure was always a treasured commodity on dad’s day off. We would all sleep in well as much as possible with four little boys. I would make a delicious breakfast that included eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast and of course gravy too.  Once that was consumed, which happened in lightening speed, cleaned up the kitchen.

It was time for all of us to pile into the van. Most of the time there was a purpose for these drives like needing groceries or to pick up dry cleaning, but it would always end in trying to get dad lost. Steve would start driving and then ask, “Which way should I turn?” each boy would chime in left, right or go straight. During these drives we got to experience some very fascinating things.

I recall one particular experience when we lived in Tennessee. We had picked Steve up from work and he wanted to take a drive before going home. So we set out with directions from our boys. This time we ended up crossing the Hixon River. The bridge was quite expansive. It was October and the leaves on the trees were full of yellows, reds, and orange colors. It was a beautiful day.

During these drives, I liked to point out specific items of interest, you know to show my wisdom and try to impart some of it to my growing brood. As we were crossing the bridge, I saw orange spherical objects bobbing in the water below. I spoke up and declared with confidence, “Oh, boys, look they have decorated for Halloween.” The boys were peering out of the van windows in wonder to see this lovely sight. When my oldest son, Nicholas, spoke up…”Mom, those are not pumpkins. They are buoys to mark the swimming areas.” Fabulous, so much for me imparting wisdom when my ten year old makes me sound like I’m missing a few marbles. Oh well, it’s a precious memory that I hold dear in my heart from our game trying to get dad lost.

It’s so important in bringing up a family that we understand that imparting knowledge, instruction, and bits of oneself to remember it’s the memories of love and laughter that will bury deep into their hearts and minds for years to come. Oh, what good medicine laughter is to ones soul.