OOOOOH! OOOOOOOH!

Being a parent is no easy thing, as you know. When your child no matter how old he or she is accomplishes something, it is very hard not to want to point it out to even strangers.

Then there is the problem of assigning credit to the right parent. For years growing up in my parent’s household, when it came to me, mom and dad seemed to be on opposite poles of who should get the credit for the things I did.

 

“Your son” meant I didn’t do it right, and if I were to by chance do something right, it might have been “my son.”

It wasn’t until my later years when I went to college that I started to get some traction with dad. I bought myself this warm jacket with the college logo on the chest, and a light spring jacket with the name of the college on it. Never got to wear them, Dad had both, wore them to work everyday! Why, because I was the first male in his family to go to college. Going to college in those days was a big deal. We didn’t hang up the jackets: we stood them up!

If something was done not to mom’s liking, it was “Wait until your father gets home!” followed by a whack or two with a wooden spoon. Dad was NO disciplinarian: he was Catholic when he felt like it.

Fast-forward about 100 years and we are sitting in my living room. We turn on the TV to watch The Big Bang Theory.  I look at the opening credits, and there sits in big white letters: #1 Son’s name!

Me: “OOOOOH! OOOOOOOH! OOOOOH! OOOOOOOH! Look, LOOK! There it is, MY son’s name!”

TLW; (The Little Woman)  “THAT’S OUR SON!!!”

Shocking but true!