My parents tell this story about me when I was probably four or five. One day, John the Hippie who lived next door was out in his backyard trying to repair a blown bicycle tube on his 10-speed. I went over there to “help” as I enjoyed talking to John the Hippie and he seemed to enjoy chatting with me. After I watched him struggling with trying to cram the tube under the tire, I suggested that maybe he take the tire off, put the tube inside, then put the whole thing on the wheel. This seemingly obvious solution hadn’t occurred to John the Hippie, so he beamed about the whole thing to my parents and the story lives on in family lore.
The other day, I was putting up new wall sconces in our living room (check them out) and Ray was helping. I had removed the old ones and was starting to screw the new brackets to the wiring box, but the new screws were too big for the 75-year-old non-standard wiring box holes. I let out a small grunt of frustration and thought: “Great. Now I have to replace the wiring boxes.” Images of former home “improvement” projects I have attempted flashed before my eyes. I envisioned that, before I was done with this, there would be a four foot hole to the outside above our fireplace and we’d just have to move.
Ray heard my grunt and asked: “Daddy, why ‘Ugh!’?” So I explained the predicament.
Ray just shrugged and said: “I guess we’ll just have to use the old screws.”
You know, the ones that I had just removed two minutes earlier? Those screws? The ones that fit?
I climbed down and gave Ray a big hug and thanked him for his suggestion. The sconces were up within minutes, and I didn’t even electrocute myself.
I am well pleased with my son, but, of course, this all means that his dad is no smarter than a hippie.
Comments
Sometimes children can teach us to slow down and realize the simplicity in our lives.
Posted by: Dar | November 30, 2007 3:04 PM
"I envisioned that, before I was done with this, there would be a four foot hole to the outside above our fireplace and we’d just have to move."
Hilarious!
That Ray seems like a pretty cool kid. He likes Tom Waits, is good with tools and can maneuver his way around a hippie? I think we can all expect great things from this kid.
Posted by: John | November 30, 2007 8:26 PM
"I envisioned that, before I was done with this, there would be a four foot hole to the outside above our fireplace and we’d just have to move."
Hilarious!
That Ray seems like a pretty cool kid. He likes Tom Waits, is good with tools and can maneuver his way around a hippie? I think we can all expect great things from this kid.
Posted by: John | November 30, 2007 8:26 PM