1. Psychology: My husband is always a bit unknowable to me,
which is why I guess I continue to find him so fascinating. As usual, I was clueless as to what to get
him for Father’s Day because a) I’m feeling a little broke these days; b)
he seems to have just about every toy or trinket a man could want or need; and
c) like I said, I never ever know what’s going on in that big brain of
his. So, when he announced on Saturday
morning that he needed my car to go pick up his new mountain bike – one being
discarded by a colleague of his – I scratched my head: Another
bike? (In addition to the folding bike and the motor scooter!) Then I thought –
yes, I know what to get him! Bike riding
shorts with those cushions for your butt.
Perfect. And he loved them.
My
grade: A- for paying attention
2. Writing: A Father’s Day card for my 89-year-old father
who is on the crabby side these days because he’s pretty old and doesn’t
always feel so great. When we are
together we argue a lot about stuff like health care, independent v. assisted living, etc. Predictably, when we visited with him and my mother yesterday, my father was in a typically combative
mood for the first hour or so, until I told him he made me crazy and laughed,
and he settled down. Then I presented
him with some presents he actually needed and a card that featured a female
bull dog and an adult male bull dog staring each other down. The message on the card read: Even though we don’t always see eye to eye, I
love you always, Dad. My sentiments,
exactly.
Grade
for Hallmark: A
My
grade: B+ (a C- for letting him make
me crazy at the beginning of our visit, but I redeemed mysefl with the card, the laugh and the presents)
3. Art:
I consider my beautiful 12 year-old daughter a work of art – funny,
challenging, charming. Her
smile yesterday melted my husband’s heart (as it always does) and delighted her
elderly grandparents beyond measure. And
when she said goodbye to them – “love you, you guys” – I was pretty much a
puddle too.
She
also gave her father 2 nifty gifts she picked out on her own on field trips she made during camp
last week: A very pretty blue stone from
Port Discovery, a kid’s science museum in Baltimore, and a Navy cannon (as in the kind of gun that shoots cannonballs) pencil sharpener
from the U.S. Navy Museum in D.C. Cool
presents, cooler kid.
My
daughter’s grade: A++
My husband’s
grade: A (because he’s pretty close
to being a perfect father in my daughter’s estimation and I couldn’t agree more)
My grade: B+ (because I’ll never be a perfect mother,
but I’ll always want to aspire to that in my daughter's eyes)
4.
Science: My sister’s vegetable and cheese quiches were
dee-li-cious! So was the spinach salad,
although I’ve never been a fan of feta cheese.
My
sister’s grade: B+ (graded down a
bit due to the Feta cheese)
5.
Math: The blessing of another Father’s Day with my
parents, my husband and my child – sweetened by the presence of my older sister
and her husband, who live too far away most of the year but more than make up
for it when they’re around.
Group
grade: A++
Happy Monday.
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