Reblogged:Friday Hodgepodge

[Gus Van Horn blog]

Four Things

1. In one of the more amusing examples of fast thinking in parenting, I spontaneously "realized" that tooth fairies demand all known pieces of any missing tooth before they will redeem said tooth for payment. One of my daughter's teeth came out in two pieces, a day apart. Mrs. Van Horn had her place the first piece in the usual spot on the premise that it was worth partial payment.

I forgot.

"I was afraid of that," I ... explained ... the next morning. "I have heard that tooth fairies want all the pieces so they can mend them."

Pumpkin lost the second part of the tooth later that day and was five dollars richer the next morning.

2. I was surprised to hear my wife, on her way out the door one morning, quietly saying, "Spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch."

After verifying that, yes, I had heard this correctly, I learned that she had heard me saying the same thing.

It's not a habit, but after randomly remembering Austin Powers saying it (below, near the end), I do occasionally say it to amuse myself: Checking for my wallet, keys, glasses, watch, and phone is so ingrained that I don't need a mnemonic.

But it does help my absent-minded wife: It has been quite a while since I have had to wear her forgotten pager in case it goes off. (On days that she forgets it, she can have pages re-routed, but it isn't necessarily fool-proof.)

File under strange and amusing, but effective.

3. My son has a good sense of humor, although the subject matter is about what you might expect at his age. He asked me the other day, "Dad, what's the end of the world?"

"I don't know."

"A bathroom without toilet paper."

4. This week, I had one of those "they grow up fast" moments when I realized that, ever since school resumed, I have not once had to tell my daughter to dress in the morning, and rarely have had to remind her to do her homework in the evening.

She ... just ... does those things.

I told her what a grown-up thing that was, and how much I appreciated it when I realized that.

-- CAV

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