A Tie for Daddy

Jax spits up... A LOT! He doesn't have acid reflux or anything, I'm pretty sure he just eats until he's full to the brim and sometimes a little more. Things are bound to leak out. Anyway, it seems his favorite time to erupt Vesuvius-style is Sunday mornings, five minutes before we should leave for church and while Andy is holding him. Now I don't know if he or his vomit have tie-dar but it's almost inevitable that Andy's tie will suffer the brunt of the eruption. In the past few weeks Andy has gone through several ties. Some of them can be saved with a little spot cleaning, others will be buried in the following day's trash like Pompeii.

So today, Ava, Jax and I decided to get Daddy a new tie. For complete disclosure I should mention that I'm not at all sad that Vomitron (our nickname for Jax... so cute when Ava says it) ruined some of Andy's ties. To be completely honest, I hated a few of them... some of them... okay most of them. I mean, ties with geometric shapes and poopy green paisley print should be sent back to, what, the 80's? How did my fashion-challenged husband even acquire such hideous ties? One might ask. Well, let's just say he was a manager at DI for a few years and took full advantage of his employee discount. Anyway, so vomit or not, new ties were definitely needed. We decided to go to the Missionary Mall - home of the washable tie and two-year guarantee. I told Ava she could choose Daddy's tie. So, she chose a bubblegum pink tie with white diagonal stripes. Before I go on, what is with pink guys' clothing lately? I just don't get it. I guess if I wear blue they should be allowed to wear pink - equal opportunity colors. Anyway. I had to explain to Ava that pink is just for her and me and that Daddy probably wouldn't want a pink tie. So, next she chose a melon orange one with aforementioned diagonal stripes. "You know what, honey, Daddy really likes red, or green, or blue. Can you pick a tie in that color?" She looks, her eyes light up, "That one." She points her little finger emphatically at a green argyle tie. Strike three. I point out a snazzy red tie with thin blue stripes and a blue one with darker blue stripes. I appeal to her patriotism. "Ohh, honey look at these, these are the colors of the American flag." She gets excited and chooses the red one. Now, here's how I know she's spent way too much time in her 2 1/2 years on this earth shopping with me. As we approach the counter to pay she says, "No Mommy, I think we should buy the other one." Okay. We do the switcheroo and head back to the counter. "No, I think I like the red one." I don't have anywhere to go, so we put the blue one back and get the red one (Jax's preference... it'd the one he smiled at when I asked him if he liked it). Just to be sure I say, "I think Daddy will like wearing this one to church." She responds matter-of-factly, "Oh yes, he'll look lovely."

When we get in the car I ask Ava if she had fun buying Daddy a tie. She tells me she liked the Ava-sized drinking fountain in the store... as illustrated by the huge water spot down the front of her shirt. I've been trying to teach her lately about service, charity and simply doing nice things for other people. So I ask, "Do you think Daddy will like his tie?" "Yes." "Do you think he'll be happy when we give it to him?" "Yes." "How does that make you feel knowing you did something for Daddy that will make him happy?" "It makes my heart happy." I smile. My heart is happy too.

Stay Squishy...