| 31 August 2010
"My father didn't tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it." -- Clarence Budington Kelland
"You were three, LIKE ME!!!!" Speedy yelled at the man wearing the top hat.
"That's right. I was just three-years-old when I found a coloring book just like this under the Christmas tree. On the cover it said 'FUN MAGICAL COLORING BOOK.'"
Speedy's eyes lit up as he watched the blank pages flip through the fingers of the man with the top hat. He listened closely to the story about the magic coloring book that didn't have any pictures.
I watched as my little guy yell 'Abracadabra' at the top of his lungs. His head bobbed along with the magic wand tapping on the coloring book. His mouth dropped open as the man in the top hat once again flipped through the pages of the coloring book, revealing the hidden pictures.
It was quite a moment to watch. My son's first magic show. I can't really tell you about any of the illusions, my eyes were focused on my son. That's where the magic was happening.
When the man in the top hat was finished, we grabbed a bit to eat. I listened as Speedy recounted all of the tricks, the jokes, and even make up a few illusions of his own.
Then it was time for another first - balloon animals. Speedy stood in line and watched each child chose their favorite animal. By the time it was his turn, he had changed his mind seven times. He finally decided on a balloon dog.
Speedy watched the man in the top hat with excitement as he blew up the balloon and twisted it in all sorts of ways. After he made the dog, he blew up another balloon.
"What that's balloon for?" I asked my little guy.
"It's the leash mommy," he answered.
"Of course. Because you don't want it to get away, right?" I chirped back.
My son just gave me that look that said "finally you understand."
Speedy took the balloon dog and walked it all around the fellowship hall. He was so careful walking to the car. He kept it just above the rocks. I was so proud of him. I'm not sure what we do if something happened to that dog.
He gently placed the dog in the back of the Jeep, just like we do when we have our real dog.
The whole way home he talked to his dog. I listened to his little voice as I thought about how great of an evening this had been. As we pulled into our driveway, Speedy said he couldn't wait to show his daddy his new dog. I helped him out the car and reached into the back of the Jeep for his new balloon friend. Speedy's eyes lit up once again as he grabbed the handle and walked the dog to the door.
I reached back into the car to grab my purse and then I heard a loud 'Pop!'
I jumped out the car and yelped "Oh no! What happened?"
As I turned around, I saw my son frozen at the doorstep of our house. In his hands, a balloon leash attached to a floating dog head.
"Mom," he said as tear filled up his eyes. "I just wanted to let him pee in the grass."
I froze searching for the right words to say. My heart started breaking.
"Can you fix it?" he asked as he started to cry.
"Honey, I don't know. The dog is still here. He's just.... smaller," I said hoping to fool him into believing what used to be the dog's head was now his body. "Let's go in and show daddy. Maybe we can figure out something."
We made our way through the door. I now held the floating dog head on a balloon leash. We made our way to Sweet-D, who was sitting at his computer playing World of Warcraft.
"Daddy, I broke it," Speedy cried.
Sweet-D jumped up from the computer consoling our son. I stood behind him still holding the balloon leash attached to a floating dog head.
"What do you have there?" Sweet-D said with the excitement usually used to change the mood of any toddler.
"It used to be a dog," Speedy said with a pout.
I explained what happened. My own heart now broken as this wonderful evening burst into a terrible disappointment.
My husband grabbed what was left of the balloon creation and said, "What do you mean used to be a dog? I still see a dog."
Speedy's head hung low. We weren't fooling him. He made his way to the front door. I asked him if he wanted to go sit on the swing with me, our fallback place any time Speedy is upset. As I walked out the door, I glanced back to see my husband twisting and turning the balloon leash.
In a matter of minutes, my husband appeared on the porch with a balloon dog.
"He's back!!!!" Speedy yelled as he hopped of the swing. "Where's the leash?"
This time it was my eyes that lit up. My husband saved the evening. I mouthed "thank you" as I led Speedy back into the house. "A leash? I think I can come up with something."
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