Father's Day - Two Thumbs Down

I had such high hopes for today. I got up after a good night's sleep, took care of some things around the house and woke Frank up a little after 9 am. I had a special breakfast to make and was excited to do it. I should have known when I poured bad milk in to the egg mixture (I did catch that little fact BEFORE I added it to the pan) that it would be all down hill from there.

Fight number one: Nick was going to church with his girlfriend and her family and he looked like a mild train wreck. "Fix his hair!" Frank yelled at me. So I take the 16-year old in to the bathroom and attempt to do something with his head. It is a lost cause and the child whines and complains the entire time. When I mention that he has some kind of goo in his eye, he snaps "Oh for God sake just worry about the hair!" Down went the brush and I was done. Go out looking like an idiot, I don't care.

Fight number two: While getting ready to go out, hygiene habits of the teenager come up. I explain them to Frank and add "Don't say anything because it will come out like an attack. We'll talk about it later." So what happens? Frank goes out in to the living room like some sort of crazed soldier going in to battle and says ALL of the things to the boy that I just asked him not to. Voices are raised and feelings are hurt. I was not amused.

Fight number three: We're at the mall so that Frank can get himself a good wallet. He normally gets one at Walmart but wanted a sturdier one this time. We explained to the children before leaving home that we were not buying THEM anything at the mall, it was all about dad. Twenty minutes in, we find ourselves on line at the bungee jump for Michael ($10) and Nick is at the game store looking for new games for himself. Since we were clearly going to spend the money on Michael to bungee jump (which was WAY cool), I told Nick that I'd give him $10 to get what he wanted. Not good enough. He wanted $20. Not gonna happen, we tell him and he walks off in a snit.

Fight number four: I left the three of them in Barnes and Noble so that I could go to Archiver's for scrapbooking supplies (I had a coupon) and apparently Frank did not like the way the sales guy was hovering and watching them so he demands that they all leave and walks out of the store in a snit. The teenager is embarrassed and could not understand what the big deal was. A twenty minute discussion takes place in the car and ends with "Well, I guess you'll never have to go anywhere with me again, then!" This, surprisingly, coming from the adult.

Fight number five: We sit down to dinner and Michael complains that his chair is wobbly. Our kitchen set is pretty old and all of the chairs are on their way out. So Frank tells him that he'll look at it after dinner, and Nick (Unable to sit by and not speak) says "Well, what do you expect, they're old". A true statement, sure, but said with just a touch of snottiness that makes Frank's head explode. Next thing I know, Frank stands up and kicks his chair out from under himself and yells "Well then I guess YOU can go out and buy the damn furniture!" and storms off. Now I've got a $50 meal on the table and I'll be damned if people are going to walk off and not eat it. So I call him back to the table and demand that he eat and then tell everyone to just SHUT IT! No more talking!

It's now almost 9:30 at night and I, for one, will be very thankful when this day comes to an end. Oh, Happy Father's Day.