02 October 2008

Things that make a dad proud

There are moments in life where you really get to see what kind of influence you are having on your son.

A short list of some cool stuff that's making me all proud:

1. He'll be all dressed to go somewhere and I'll come downstairs wearing, let's say black jeans. He looks down at his jeans, trots up the stairs and comes down in his own set of black jeans. For some reason though I'm the only one that ever gets the line, "Is that what you're wearing?" from The Wife even if we're dressed identically.

2. I have a big pirate flag in the office and occasionally, The Boy will have me attach his own pirate flag to whatever he's riding at the time. I see it flapping behind him as he rides around and think, "Yaaarrrrr! That's me boyo makin' his pa proud."

3. He knows the all the words to Margaritaville and Pencil-Thin Mustache and will sing them in the car with me. I try to make sure we're already singing in the car when The Wife gets in so that she won't be able to put on that damnable country music she listens to. She would never interrupt a sing along.

4. He will also request that the Flogging Molly CD be played in the car. He hasn't quite got the lyrics down yet, but it's only a matter of time.

5. He says "sweet' with the proper inflection. (That would be 'suh-weet' for the uninitiated out there.)

Yeah, yeah, he's all polite and respectful and crap too. He gets that from us, but I was talking about the really important stuff up there.

There are the occasional bad influences we have. When he says "shit," though, that's his mom's fault. I will, however, totally admit to it being my fault when I hear a "Jesus H. Christ," out of him.

 

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19 comments:

steenky bee said...

My husband would love you, but in a purely manly type of way. Flogging Molly? He loves it.

I love to see my little guy wanting to be just like my husband. It warms my heart. I'm sure your little man has melted his.

I'm so glad I found you!!

David Ebright said...

Great post. Lemme see, Pirate Flag - always good, Jimmy Buffet - cool, 1 demerit for derrogatory reference to country music but that gets offset by kid being respectful. My boys, now 32 & 28 have made me extremely proud & they've each followed in my footsetps in the same business (they still live in Pennsylvania) I posted about them on 8/28 & 5/8. The post from May was about a time that they made the front page of the Philly Daily News. I think you would laugh at that one. Good luck & keep up the good work with 'The Boy'. Your involvement, instruction & positive examples as a dad will ultimately pay big dividends.

The Stiletto Mom said...

Our son tossed out his first GD at the tender age of two. That was his Dads fault. He let loose with an eff bomb six months later. That was my fault. However, we are not sure who to blame for my daughters latest. At dinner: "Damnit Daddy, I dropped my fork." Daddy: "What??" Her: "I SAID DAMNIT DADDY I DROPPED MY FORK...SHEESH!"

We are no doubt raising our children in a cocoon of good examples here.

Great post, The Boy is goign to turn into an awesome man some day bc of you!

Athena said...

AWWWWWW too cute!! Love it when Dads get all mushy about their kids :) He sounds like a real good little guy, too.

Anonymous said...

But what about "Cheeseburger in Paradise?" That the litmus test, for me.

Unknown said...

Jen: We'll all have to meet at the pub sometime then. The kids can head off and wrastle, we'll pick them up later.

jaxpop: I read those posts. I'm a long way off from that, but it's great that your kids have such a good sense of humor.

Mary Anne: Isn't it funny how even though we manage to stifle most of our curses, they're always right behind us when one slips past the internal sensor?

Athena: So far, so good. I thought this job would be easier though.

Ellie: That one's a given. He can even do the claps during "I like mine with lettuce and tomato..."

Anonymous said...

Okay. NOW I'm impressed.

Confessions of A Mississippi Mom said...

Dad I must say that is "sweet" list of proud moments. Hey what is wrong with listening to Country Music.. ha *psst* I do love Jimmy Buffet better...hehe!

Anonymous said...

Those really are the important things. I gotta teach my kids Margaritaville.

I occasionally hear my kids yell out Godammit, and I know I have only myself to blame.

What a suh-weet post!

Ann Harrison said...

Hi! I'm visiting via Mary Anne "The Stilleto Mom".
I guess we get to hold down the fort while she frolicks in Cabo.
Ah well, maybe some day we'll all get together and have drinks with umbrellas in them.

(And Flogging Molly! How funny! Does your son know the words to "Drunken Lullabies"? :-> )

~Ann
Ann Again... and again

HeatherPride said...

That's adorable. I love that he wants to dress like you.

Thanks for stopping by the Short Bus! Nice to meet you!

Ron said...

And he has a blog "Irregularly Periodic Ruminations JR"

"Jesus H Christ" that's one cuss word I've never heard from a kid and would really love to.

Imitation, the truest indication a boy loves their father. This post choked me up some thinking about my kids. Thanks

Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

Adorable! I love how our little ones keep us entertained every day!

for a different kind of girl said...

It's pretty cool being someone's hero, isn't it? I love watching my boys try to be like their Dad. I think it means you all are doing right by them, even if the random curse words pop out!

Unknown said...

MS Mom: I used to like country and then one day, poof!, I couldn't take the twang any more.

Ann: Thanks for stopping by. The five of us will have to go to Cabo for those drinks and make Mary Anne guest post. He has yet to pick those lyrics up. Maybe I can get them to teach them to him in kindergarten.

Heather: Thank you too.

Ron: I'll see if I can get it on tape for you.

Petra: Thanks for stopping by!

Bee: It's also scary since you never, ever want to let them down. It's a challenge I'll take though.

999 said...

Sweet! (yes, the inflection was correct)

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t said...

LOVE suh--weeet!! Great, great post!!

By the way, never mind Bush never saying nuclear correctly, did he ever say ANYTHING correctly?

My sweet Dad used to say that all the pics of Bush look like he's sniffing garbage......

Pseudo said...

First time here. My favorite was your wife asking you and not the boy "is that what you're wearing?"