“Mom, can we do some research?”
This is what my son has been asking me lately. It’s super cool, don’t get me wrong, but I blame his dad for the considerable time I’ve spent Googling “Transformers: Rescue Bots Heatwave” this week.
Before we had kids, my husband and I did what I can only assume every couple does, and divided our good traits up amongst our future children.
Back then (and to this day) I have maintained my wish for our children to get my (former) athletic prowess. What I wanted them to acquire from their father was his insatiable appetite for knowledge.
Clearly, my wish has come true — with regard to my four-year-old at the very least. (The jury’s still out on the Little One but I have a feeling she won’t be too much different.)
Not only is my son a self-declared skilled ninja warrior with super speed, he just loves to learn. Just like his dad. They’re always looking stuff up together. Truth be told, I love it. What a fantastic skill to foster in your kids.
But something peculiar has happened as a byproduct of this quest for information and it has more to do with my spouse than my son.
Lately, my husband’s been saying things like: “Barbie, from what I can tell, doesn’t really have much of a personality,” and, “You missed the episode where they had a glitter shortage. It was tragic.”
These are not things a wife would expect her husband to say over dinner.
But it goes well beyond that. He knows details.
If you’ve been reading this column for a while you know we spent a few weeks in the relative coolness of our basement when it was hot out. During that time we started a bit of a family movie night tradition. One night we watched a fascinating Sesame Street production of Elmo’s Alphabet Challenge. I know, I know, we are living the high life over at my house…anyhoo, at some point he turned to me and said the following:
“This is the only appearance of ‘A. B. C-more’ in a Sesame Street episode except for there is a statue of him in one other Sesame Street episode.”
Wait, what? Who looks that up? The same guy that could tell you Canadian voice actress Tara Strong is not only Raven on Teen Titans but also Twilight Sparkle on My Little Pony, that’s who.
During a recent chat he mentioned that “The hamster on Ruff Ruff Tweet and Dave wears a top hat.” Just in case you needed to know. (So too does Mayor Humdinger on Paw Patrol and he wouldn’t hesitate to tell you as much if it came up in conversation.)
He’ll be mortified to know I’m telling you about his pretty impressive knowledge of cartoons but I think I failed to mention what a good dad he is around Father’s Day and so I feel like I should tell you now. Even if that means outing his unique collection of facts.
But, I think at the end of the day it comes down to two things for him, with the first being his never-ending mission to know more about pretty much anything and everything. I love that.
But what I think outweighs even that is his constant desire to be an integral part of the lives of our children. And I know he’ll get ribbed by his buddies for this column, but at the end of the day they’ve got to admire just what that man is willing to put himself through just to connect with his kids on their own level.
And hey, if it gives him some more ammo for trivia, all the better.
