Crappy Papa took the boys to our old neighborhood. He wanted to show them the avocado tree that we planted. We made guacamole, suspended the pit in a glass of water with toothpicks until it sprouted and then planted the tiny seedling.
That was seven years ago and now the tree is pretty big.
Crappy Boy says “cool” which means he is sincerely impressed. He has his own flower garden in our backyard and he is fascinated by how things grow.
Crappy Baby is really impressed though. He is excited and thrilled! But not with the tree. He is impressed with Crappy Papa and gazes up at him adoringly:
Crappy Papa realizes that this is what Crappy Baby must be thinking:
But rather than explain that he only planted a tiny seedling, he recognizes that right now, at this very moment, he is the most amazing, most impressive and strongest person in the whole world in the eyes of his son.
So he simply says:
Because right then? It was true.
I can’t wait to have one of those moments!
I wonder how long he’ll let that one ride out before explaining how the tree *really* got there.
I love this. Thanks for the early morning smile!
Aww! That is heartwarming. Love those moments.
I love how you captured CB’s syntax – “cool from you”. So sweet and so funny. I love your blog. Always lightens my mood and makes me smile or laugh.
And…I’m so sorry about the loss of your grandfather.
Molly
Finally! I’ve been waiting for your May crappy post! Thanks for making my day!
My hubby’s dream is to see his tiny (for now) avocado tree grow, but I never knew the reason until now…
Besides, by the time your little one will know the true story behind the seeds, Dad will already have had an impressive, indistructible reputation
so… he wins!
There are 5 or 6 other posts this month, not just this one, she was only gone for a week. (Sorry about your grandfather, Amber,)
Oh, sorry about that! My mistake.
And sad to hear about your loss. I’m very sorry!
so sweet. i am hoping the days where my daughters think their dad hangs the moon and stars each night last forever.
i also wanted to say how sorry i am for the loss of your grandfather. may your heart find comfort.
If they are like me, I still think my Dad hung the moon. I am 42 now and I don’t see myself changing any time soon
So sweet and adorable. I wish this phase lasted.
How sweet it is that he thinks his dad can do anything in the whole world. Milk it while it lasts!
I so love the hero-worship phase of childhood … 10 feet tall and bullet-proof!
Much much love. My girls and I are trying our own avocado seed right now, seems like it has been months. How long before it starts looking like a plant haha. I’ll add my voice to the others as well, Sorry for your loss. xoxo
adorable.
Love this story! …and now I am looking up how to start an avacado seed…
So sweet! And like the other commenter, I also like how you captured Baby’s syntax, “that’s cool from you.” What a sweet moment.
I had a moment like that the other day in the car. My 4 1/2 year old asked me a question about how something worked, and I really wasn’t in the mood to go into discussion so I just said, “I don’t know.” He said, “But Mom, I thought you know EVERYTHING.” Rather than correct him (’cause he’ll figure it out soon enough on his own), I mustered up some energy, came up with an answer, and kept my rep for a little longer.
Awww! That is awesome.
Wow, such an amazing moment right there.
How did you suspend the seed with toothpicks?
Amy, you take an avocado pit (seed?) and drive the point of a toothpick in at a slightly steeper than horizontal level into the pit – repeat 3-4 more tmes (think of the pit as having spokes if you look at it from the top) then set the pit in a glass of water so the bottom half is in water and the top half is in the air.
You know what? It’s probably easier to show you a photo:
http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/8-8-08%20avocado5.jpg
Yes, that ^ exactly.
That is so precious! Now I’m wanting to plant an avocado tree!
Love this! As a dad, I totally understand that deceiving your children in order to glorify yourself is totally acceptable. My daughter asked me last year if I could pick the minivan up and lift it. “Of course,” I replied. “Then do it!” she said. “Well, I might break the car and mom would be mad at me.” “Oh,” she said.
Your little one is a tree hugger. I like it.
LOL. Yes that would make him a very strong man indeed.
I can’t wait for this type of thing to happen to my husband. His “present” for the weekend was to leave our 5 1/2 mo on the floor to roll for a while and not realize that he poo’ed. I was napping and my dh brings up this orange little boy and asks if it is poo or cat puke. Either way, it was bath time!!! From chin to knees, he had smooshed it all over himself. DH didn’t even know where to start cleaning him up!
Sorry about your grandpa, just lost my grandma a few weeks ago, keep celebrating their life and remember the good times!!!
Love <3
I had a moment like this last night. My thirty two year old niece told me I was a good aunt. I needed kleenex.
That’s sweet. I’m looking forward to when baby girl can talk and we have these type of moments.
Wow, this is so cool! Love this post, love the moment you shared with the boys. And I love the fact it is now on the internet for us to enjoy, and for your kids to read in a few years’ time.
Adorable!
Awesome! I love it! For little people, things exist the way they are perceived, no matter what really happened. No sense taking that away from them ALL the time. =)
My husband pushed a dead tree over the edge of a ravine on his property. His 7-year-old son was in complete awe. (My husband didn’t tell him it was a dead tree and very weak.) Son went back to his mom and step-dad’s house bragging for weeks “My daddy can push trees over.” My husband still tells the story… and apparently so do I. haha.
That is a great story!
Awwww!! I’m 39 weeks pregnant and that was too much for me and all these hormones! Definitely a little teary! So sweet!
Classic. Love it. You continue to warm my heart & make me smile. May this time of grief be lessened by yr warm thoughts & memories.
So lovely.
I love this, I’m sending it to my husband!
<3 <3 <3
I love how little kids’ minds work.
Cute Papa, he’s a hero!
Is the tree actually growing avocados? I read that they are really irradic and have to be grafted in order to produce fruit. I love the illustration of crappy baby thinking of his heroically strong papa.
Amber,
I am sad for the loss of your grand dad. Remember him in stories to your little ones and it will help you heal.
I am a huge (and kiddie-less) fan. I have nephews, ages 3 and 8 and I can soo relate and love your posts. Thanks for spreading such joy.
<3 <3 <3
Just LOVE this. Sooo precious. It actually made me tear up a bit. I so love your pictures of “what CB was thinking,” whichever wee one it is depicted. Thank you for brightening my day yet again.
Crappy Papa sounds much like my husband.
This was awesome. My little girl is 20 months and the other day she was trying to pick up a gallon of water, I said “Daddy help” and picked it up and put it on the table. Her eyes got all big and she said “Daddy Strong!”. I said, well, not really, but thanks for the compliment.
Ha! I love the way kids think!
The aura of invincibility is a wonderful thing… well done to Crappy Papa for having the sense to keep shtum and not destroy the magic.
Also, so sorry to hear about your grandfather. I have so many fabulous memories of my grandparents, it would be nice to hear about yours when you’re ready.
this is such an adorable story. thanks for sharing
The other day my 2 yr old son watched my husband pull a huge dead branch out of a tree. It was just hanging there but my sons eyes got so big. He walked up and down its length for about 20 minutes, pointing at it and babbling about it. (He was unintelligible at this point). You could tell he was trying to store it in his memory so he could tell his grandkids about his father Paul Bunyon. It was hilarious!
I’ve got to come up with some of these ways to give my own daughter the truth about who I am: a superhero with a dark and difficult past, which makes daddy always worthy of respect and which suggests being compassionate towards him those times that he’s irritable because he’s remembering the time he was injected with a liquid metal to turn him into a killing machine, but he escaped and held his extreme lethality in check in order to have a family, proving that love is stronger than hate. How do I communicate that to her wordlessly?
This is so sweet – and I love that you lauded it instead of teasing it. Hooray for strong, cool Crappy Papa who is exactly what his son believes him to be.
<3 !
Great story!
I absolutely love this one! I’m teary!
I love it!! I can’t wait for my husband to have one of those moments with our son. Granted he’s 4 months old now but I can’t wait for it!
I’m pregnant and hormonal and I have two sons, and this post made me cry! Love it!
…it’s easier this way.
I love Crappy Baby the most–he is adorable !!!
OH how precious. Wish those days would last… and the reality of the world wouldn’t soak in. I’m with your hubby- embrace it now until you can’t have it anymore!!!!
IMO, one of the best things about having kids is that they periodically remind us that there are a ton of different ways to perceive the world and that we shouldn’t take our understanding of things for granted. Great post.
Love it!!
What a sweet post! The other day my 3-yo daughter and I were home alone and some letter magnets slid under the fridge. I pulled gently on the fridge to see if I could get the wheels rolling so we could retrieve the letters. I’m 10 weeks pregnant, so I didn’t want to strain myself. I told her we’d have to wait until daddy got home. When daddy arrived he slid the fridge out like it was on rails. She was thrilled. “I knew YOU could do it Daddy! Mommy, Daddy’s strong. You’re not strong.” Well, o.k.
Yea, got to embrace those moments. Our 2 kiddos think we’re awesome right now (me at least) but I’m very aware that our days our numbered so I plan to soak it all up.
My hubby has planted several avocado trees in our yard too. Just stuck the seed in the ground and it came up. No toothoicks involved. But we live in hot Africa, maybe that makes a difference…? Those who want to plant their own should know that tou need a male and female tree close enough to each other that bees can do their thing for fruit to grow. So plant more than one! Not cool to wait five years or so till the tree matures just to find your only tree is a male without fruit…
I asked my dad when I was little “What does can’t afford mean?” He said it means we have too much money. I believed it for a long time.
We did the same thing with an avocado seed. When we moved from the East Coast to Texas, my husband made me Supervisor of the Avocado Seed. He cut open a plastic bottle, poured water in the bottom half, placed the seed inside with the toothpicks sticking out, put the other half of the plastic bottle on top then taped it all together (leaving the bottle lid off for it to breath, of course). He made me place this bottle in the cup holder on my side of the car. He had his own unoccupied cup holder, but not I. The entire trip to Texas, I had to bring this with me wherever I went because “it’s too hot to leave it in the car”. Gas station bathroom? Yep, it was with me. The. Entire. Trip.
Am I the only one who noticed how nice crappy papa’s butt looks?
I have tried that avocado thing many times, and all I’ve grown is this slimy coating all over the pit. The kids have not been impressed.
I love your blog…so imaginative and so true! Yup…I’ve done things similar to that. And there ain’t nothing like being a boss in your kids’ eyes. Thanks for keeping it fresh…
Check out my blog, too. It can be serious, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek-ish, it can be a lot of things.
I think this is my favorite of all your posts! Made me tear up! Daddys are heros
Awwww! I hope Crappy Papa had a good Father’s Day this year!
Awwww!!!!
Avocados are commercially valuable and are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world. They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, it ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.^
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