That's Pretty Good, I Only Forgot One Thing!

I was looking forward to some great father-daughter time. My wife, Sherrie, was going to do a triathlon in Cancun and Lauren and I would go trick or treating with our good friends the Thompsons at Disney’s Magic Kingdom at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and then do our perspective duathlon and triathlon the following days. I made sure and had my goofy hat, big puffy gloves, and dreadlocks to go as Rasta-Goofy (Hiyuck, hiyuck, garsh, mon!). I had our bikes, the pump, the helmets ready for our races. We even had a flexible departure time on Friday morning so I was not rushed when I packed.

I pride myself on being able to take care of my kids. I don’t believe that fathers are incapable caregivers. I think many men use this as an excuse and many women don’t let fathers grow in these roles because they do not trust them.

Now the key word as mentioned before was pride. Because sure enough, pride goeth before the fall. I only forgot one thing the whole trip. Yep, just one little ol’ thing. One teeny tiny miniscule thing…my daughter’s SUITCASE! To paraphrase my friend Napoleon DEAN-O-MITE Inserra, the pastor at The Well (the rockin’est church ever) “God sent his Son…Paul forgot his daughter’s suitcase!”

Now God knows my true parenting skills because he has given me two very easy to raise, soft hearted girls. Lauren just looked at me and I looked at her when we started to unpack at the Disney campground and realized her suitcase was not in the car. In a paper I had to do when I was at TCC (That was so long ago it was actually only TC.) my mother said our family philosophy was, “Just get up off the ground and get back on that horse.” She didn’t whine, she didn’t complain, and she didn’t have a fit. Fortunately she and Lauren Thompson were going to Disney as pajama girls. So she and Charlene Thompson worked out a pajama swap. That would lead her to getting to go shopping for a new bathing suit for the water park trip and one more new outfit from the mall to cover the rest of the weekend. She was going to milk this guilt thing for a pretty good shopping spree from the old man.

Hey, I said she was a good kid, not a saint!