DOWN HOME:
At least dads aren't as old as kids think they are
___Lindsay has my number. And it's a high one.
___The other night, this oldest daughter of ours, a junior in high school, was griping about how much United States history she has had to learn this school year.
___"It's not so bad," I countered, trying to draw a history-book-half-full analogy. "U.S.
history was one of my favorite subjects when I was in school. I loved learning all that stuff about the colonies, the Civil War, Manifest Destiny, 'Remember the Maine!' and General MacArthur."
___"Yeah, but it was easier for you," Lindsay contended.
___"No, it wasn't," I responded. "You're just as smart; you shouldn't have had trouble learning all about our nation's history."
___"Well, it was easier way back then, because you had a lot less history to learn," she replied.
___Just to prove her point, Lindsay looked it up. "Four and a half chapters of my history book have been written since you were born," she reported a few minutes later. "And it should be more; the book only goes through 1996."
___This was only the latest ribbing about my age from our children. (Or it's the latest that I remember. If I were as old as she acts like I am, my short-term memory could be shot.)
___A couple of weeks ago, after a rehearsal for the Lewisville High School Farmerettes' Spring Show, which was uproariously enlivened by the dads' high-kick routine, Lindsay and her sister, Molly, were reporting on the Farmerettes' response to the dad's schtick.
___"Some of my friends think you're the cutest," Molly told me.
___"Why, thanks, sugar," I gushed. "That's sweet of you to say."
___"I think it's because you're bald," Lindsay interpreted.
___"Or maybe it's because your old," Molly observed.
___Apparently, my darling daughters think I'm a geezer. Geezers are supposed to be really old guys like George Burns and Walter Matthau and Red Skelton. All dead now, too.
___Me? I'm still a young guy, or at least relatively young and fit and able-bodied, even if the top of my head is cover-challenged.
___Except in the eyes of my children, who think I'm an old guy who's experienced a whole bunch of U.S. history. Sort of the way I thought about my own dad and uncles when I was the girls' age. Guess I have my children-anointed geezerdom coming.
___Sometimes, I wonder what the children of dads in the Old Testament thought about them. Up beside guys like Abraham and Moses, I'm still just a mere kid.
___I've been thinking about suggesting that the youth group at church study the Old Testament for a few weeks. Next to Methuselah, I'm still just a twinkle in my own daddy's eye.
___
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
|