Happy Gene

This weekend, it occurred to me - my husband has perfected every imaginable way to publicly embarrass our children. Knowing his propensity for immature adolescent behavior, I typically work as a buffer between him and the kids. I don't mean this in actual parenting issues, but rather situations where I sense his ability to jump in and harass the kids in his unique, comedic way. 

He's a great dad and I know that he loves his kids. My husband is also quick witted and most always in a good mood. Seriously, I swear he has a happy gene. It's really a good thing and helps make our family laugh. A lot. Right now, and I kid you not, he is showing the girls how he learned the hustle.  He's in his pajamas, doing the hustle while humming it and telling them stories about being in the 8th grade resource department. The resource department is supposed to be for the kids who are challenged in school.  My husband, being the genius that he really is, figured out the system early and decided that if he could get into the resource department, he could coast through school. Some of this worked to his advantage, but in the end, he figured out that by coasting, he only hurt himself.

As he sits here telling the girls about being careful choosing the easy road, I'm proud of his honesty. I also know how extremely intelligent and gifted he is in so many areas.  Sharing wisdom with our children - about our failures and our successes - is such an important part of parenting.  My husband is quite amusing when discussing his experiences and he's bragged, for years, about being the chess champion of the resource department. Tonight, he admitted that there was only one other 8th grader who played him in chess and that boy frequently pooped his pants. This changed, just a little bit, the title of "Resource Department Chess Champion" in the eyes of the girls. 

All of his happiness and good nature has finally come to roost in his ability to completely embarrass his children. Many times, he hikes his pants up to his arm pits and walks with both feet pointed out. If we're lucky, this is as far as it goes.  If he's in a really good mood, he starts talking like a hillbilly using extremely poor grammar. His favorite with me, is an almost perfect impersonation of Nacho Libre. No one does Nacho Libre like my husband and although being married to Nacho Libre is not what I'd envisioned, I've got to admit, it's funny.  

This weekend, he took off to pick Audra up from her Junior High church service on Saturday night while I stayed home with the younger kids. Everyone knows how sensitive Junior High kids are to anything that sheds a negative or uncool light on them.  Although Audra is very grounded, she really does enjoy this period of self-expression and growth.  Her dad and I are no longer cool in her eyes, although she loves us to death and is never shy about holding our hands in public.  She is a wonderful daughter in every way and I try extremely hard not to embarrass her in front of her peers.  My husband, on the other hand, sees this vulnerable time as fertile ground for his sense of humor.  

So, as he pulled up to the curb at church to pick Audra up, he rolled down all the windows and blared a Spanish speaking radio station as loudly as he could.  He said the song was great, really loud and had a wonderful beat. As Audra got closer to the car and realized what he was doing, she waved off her friends and hurried to jump in and put an end to his fun. He locked all the doors. Poor Audra. He said that she handled it well and laughed it off. He also said it was a great way to remind her not to keep him waiting. 

The kids are getting good at laughing off his attempts to embarrass them. So am I. We know that he always means well and that embarrassing those closest to him is just his way of expressing love.