Funny Kid Tales...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My daughter had her First Communion last May and is now doing altar serving in the church. (And doing very well, thank you).

So the church decided to have tryouts for children’s choir and Sophie, who sang at our previous church in Knoxville, decided to go for it. The choir director loved her and insisted that she participate (her voice carries well, which, as her dad, I can tell you comes from YEARS of non-stop practice). Fortunately, the kids only sing 1 time a month @ the 9:30 mass so it’s not that big a commitment.

So a couple of nights after this, the thought occurred to me that there may be times where she has to do altar serving @ 8:00am and singing @ 9:30 - two(!) masses on Sunday, a prospect that would have just filled her dad with dread had this been a possibility in my childhood. Realizing this, I decided that I needed to talk to Sophie so she uinderstands what may happen, hopefully warding off any future unpleasantness.

So I sat down with Sophie on her bed and said we had to have a little talk, no you’re not in trouble, etc. And I start in on this, but I have to interrupt myself because she’s allowing herself to be distracted.

“Sophie. I want you to look me in the eyes - don’t look at your stuffed animals, don’t pay attention to your mother walking past the door, here, hand me that Gameboy and please pay attention!”

So I start speaking again, and wonder of wonder, the child is actually looking me in the eye and paying attention! :eek:

I’m, of course, thrilled. She’s actually paying attention! I’m really connecting with her this time I think. It was one of those moments parents want with their kids but rarely get - a heart to heart chat about something important where the kid isn’t acting as if they want to do something, anything than talk to boring old Dad about this boring old subject.

My heart is full of joy. I can’t wait to tell Mom. I’m proud of my daughter for her newfound maturity. I want to sing this to the rooftops: I’m actually being an effective Dad!

All of that and more went through my head as I went through my 2-minute spiel.

At the end, I asked Sophie if she had any questions and she nodded her head. And spoke:

“Dad! Did you know that when you look straight in my eye, your other eye goes *this… *” she points to my left “…way!?! I never noticed that before!”

:sigh:

2

If it’s any consolation, I did choir and nursery duty every Sunday throughout Jr. High and high school. Once you’re up and dressed and parked at the church, an extra hour really isn’t all that noticeable. It’s the getting up and going there that’s difficult.

3

lol - that cracked me up. We spend an inordinate amount of time saying, “Look at me. Look at my face. Put the book down. Stop throwing your stuffed animal in the air. Give me the animal. Give him to me. Okay, look at me. What did I just say? Look at my eyes. Now tell me what I just said.”

4

TheKid always has her phone in hand, browsing or texting. I’ve asked her to put it down many times so we could have a discussion- “I’m listening, Ma!” I’ll start talking, toss in a few random comments (Did you know you swallow spiders when you sleep? I love the Hamburgler. Tutti-fruity, oh Rudy). Sometimes she catches them, sometimes not.

It is cuter than hell when I know she’s not paying attention, but knows I’ve said something random. She gets a confused puppy look on her face while her brain tries to process the conversation. I patiently wait for her to catch up, then laugh when she realizes she’s been caught not listening.