8 July 2007
Watch What You Say To A Kid - You May Never Live It Down
Posted by Darrell under: Rantings Of An Outdoorsman .
My beautiful, innocent, inquisitive daughter asked me a harmless question one day “What is your favorite animal daddy?” She was only 6 at the time.
“Oh, I don’t know - I like all kinds of animals” I replied.
“What kind daddy? What’s your favorite?” she patiently asked again.
“I like deer and turkey a lot. I like dogs as long as there not digging up my bushes or leaving me nice little piles to step in. Bears are really cool. I’ve always loved the way tigers look.” I told her.
“Daddy, just tell me your favorite. Which one do you like the best” my daughter asked one more time.
“Would you just tell her an animal - just one - already?” my wife, not so patiently, asked.
Yeah, I can do that, I found myself thinking. I can give her a single animal that best encompasses my love of all things outdoors - “beavers” I heard myself saying. “I love beavers!”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead. My wife didn’t find it funny, and soon neither did I. In my defense (I’ve been defending myself alot lately), at the time, I was spending a lot of time riding mountain bikes. I’d routinely ride along this creek that was being ‘worked’ on by beavers. I was (and still am) amazed at 1) how large a tree a beaver can fell and 2) how far they can cut them from and still get them to the water. They are an amazing animal!
The next day, my daughter presented me with the beautiful piece of art that you see above. It was priceless and remains one of my favorite pieces she has done for me.
From then on (at least for several months) my beautiful and innocent daughter told everyone that she met (or otherwise encountered) that “her daddy loves beavers”. Needless to say, I got very used to looking at my own feet. How can you look someone in the eye after they’ve been told you love beavers?
Hey, I believe in the whole ‘reap what you sow’ principle. And, I reaped. Oh, how I reaped! I loved that picture, though. And, to this day, it hangs prominently in my office. Every once in a while someone will come into the office and after glancing at my collection of vintage toys and vintage hunting and fishing artifacts will turn their attention to my kid’s artwork.
“Who drew that beavers picture?” they’ll ask.
“My daughter drew that when she was only 6″ I’ll proudly but hesitantly say.
“Why beavers?” they’ll just have to ask. (I guess it must be unusual for kids to draw pictures of beavers?)
“I love beavers” I’ll reply with a perfectly straight face “they are my favorite animal”.
It never fails, the questioner will look at me in a slightly embarrassed way and simply say “oh”
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