16 June, 2015

Putting on daddy's shoes

Not a funny story, just one that made me proud of a little man's effort to fill his Da's shoes

16 June 2015
777

R. Linda:

I was home not enjoying the gloom and the Bickersons (Mam and Tonya) when I decided I'd had enough and would go outside even though it was raining lightly. One man can take just so much of two old ladies bickering about everything under the sun. They agree on nothing. So to be home with broken toes, trying to recuperate, and having to listen to the yammering, gets on the nerves (every single one of them) until the last one is starting to vibrate and the anger is rising, and well you need to get out of Dodge.

I made the mistake of trying to put shoes on the broken foot and almost went through the roof. I knew they felt pinched but didn't know how much until I took a step. I threw them off looking for something waterproof since those were the only rain shoes I had. But there was nothing but me slippers and being it was a desperate time, desperate measures came into play and slapping those suckers on me battered feet, I took off for the porch.

Instantly upon exiting the house, I was faced with the rain dilemma, no brolly. I forgot one, not thinking of needing one for God knows what reason I would think that, and me rain slicker was without the hood, so there I was getting rather wet. I stood there for a good five minutes before I forced meself back inside.

The two women didn't know I had gone missing even if it was only for five minutes. They had taken the argy-bargy to another room which took me a few minutes to realise I had space to breathe and enjoy the semi-silence. The only person in the room was the wee one and he had found me rain shoes and was busy putting them on.

I sat there in the dripping slicker watching him. He thought he was alone and was hard at the task of trying to get those big boats on his feet. If he had known I was there he would have handed them to me for help, so to watch a not-quite one-year-old try to figure out shoes was rather interesting, to me at least.

The struggle begins

He was sitting on the floor not contemplating the shoes, but handling them as if getting a feel for how heavy they were for someone his size. Then he bent a knee and slid a barefoot back towards him and put the shoe where his foot had been. Lifting the shoe straight up he slid his foot towards the shoe and found his foot went slightly to the side of the opening so he started grunting as he tried to fit the shoe opening to his foot instead of the other way round. This, of course, made manoeuvring rather difficult. I almost jumped up to help him when he figured it out himself and moved his foot instead of the shoe and wham in it went! Well done I said silently.

He then tried to get up and had a bit of a time with that big shoe on his foot but he managed it. Happy with that he sat back down and was ready to put the other shoe on, but it was behind him. Up he struggled again, instead of reaching around, and once upright, he slid his shod foot backwards, then the bare one and crouching down got hold of the other shoe and tried to pick it up from an angle, it was too heavy! So he stood there a minute and then sat back down next to the errant shoe and dragged it to his other foot. The same process all over again and then it was two feet in and trying to stand up with both feet encased in boat-sized shoes.

It was hard not to help him, but he did it! Not only did he do it, he leaned down picked up his duck-billed hat and put that on ready to go.

Success! That's me boy

Maybe because I am a dad, it was a big deal to see the little guy figure out shoes, even if they were way too big. But he did it and he got up, got on his hat and then started to shuffle around like an old dude very proud of himself even if he had nowhere to go and no one knew. Well, no one but me, but he didn't know that until he saw me and rewarded me with the biggest triumphant smile ever.

Just had to share that as a proud father.

Gabe
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6 comments:

Dew said...

One of those precious moments that touches your heart. Adorable!

Fionnula said...

aw that is amazing a story i teared up

Anonymous said...

Heartwarming story Gabe. Nice side of you to see.

mobit22 said...

That is soo cute AND adorable! You are officially a true daddy man! Tear in my eye.

Gabriel O'Sullivan said...

I have to ask, why the salad?

Dew said...

I was just thinking what a great Fathers Day story this would have been. But close enough!