Cailyn joined me on my trip to WalMart the
other day. Once she was strapped into
her carseat and I was dutifully restrained in my seat belt, she had a
suggestion for a unique way to pass the time during the long three minute
ride. “Let’s play make silly faces.” And she launched right in with a variety of
those “fingers pulling the mouth into various hideous positions” that would
certainly have compelled my grandmother to start one of her tirades about how “your
face is gonna get stuck like that.” It
was a chore watching each facial shift through the rear view mirror while trying
to keep enough of an eye on the road, but I managed. And of course after she finished her best one
yet, Cailyn decided the inevitable had arrived.
It was my turn. Ah, I knew it was
coming, but I never have been good at driving with my knees, so I had to make
do with one finger in my mouth and an array of facial contortions. Don’t think I would have won any contests,
but I did make Cailyn laugh. Mission
accomplished.
Shopping with a little girl who doesn’t understand
the mechanics of a male shopping venture is difficult. She isn’t excited about things like seeing
how fast we can get through all the things on Nani’s list. Or even helping me find the next thing on our
treasure hunt. No. We had to look at things like lipstick and
hairclips. I don’t even know how to
speak that language. “How much of this
do you put on your face? What color of
lipstick comes in the Cinderella case?”
That was about the best I could come up with. At least all the products she was attracted
to had some Disney princess on them so I could talk about the character and not
how to apply the goop. When we finally
escaped the makeup section she saw a different stack of product that I thought
we would pass without incident. But
no. She wanted mouthwash (again,
Princess flavored). So I asked her what
mouthwash was good for. She thought
briefly, then decided she didn’t know. “Hah,”
I thought, “Got you. Now let’s get over
to the grocery department. Products I can
relate to.” But I forgot that she is,
after all, a girl. There would be no
silent retreat. She only paused a moment
or two before she asked me back, So what is mouthwash good for, DadDad?” I told her it makes your mouth feel extra
clean after you brush your teeth. So she
showed me her teeth and said, “Well, I haven’t brushed my teeth today. Na na na na na na.” I replied, Oh. Well, then you aren’t ready for the mouthwash
then. So let’s go find some chocolate
milk.” I guess that finally sounded
reasonable to her. Finally, the old man
gets in the last word. Or so I thought. As we rounded the corner and headed for the dairy
section, I heard her mutter, “Aw. My
Mommy and Daddy never let me get anything either.” Her malaise didn’t last long, though. After all, the candy isle loomed just
ahead.
Psalms 61:4 says, “I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of
your wings.”
Father, thank you for the little joys of
silly faces and candy isles. Amen.
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