Pull My Finger

It's every father's prerogative to play the "pull my finger" game. While there are those that frown upon the vulgar practice, they obviously do not appreciate the subtleties of the tradition. It's an art form that every dad perfects over the years. Proper execution requires a sense of timing, discreteness (waiting until Mom is not around), and slapstick performance skills.

Evan was first introduced to the game this past week. Rarely have I seen such a reaction. Don't get me wrong, the boy loves to laugh, and actually has a very good sense of humor, even at the age of three, but this particular joke was beyond hilarious to him. He actually fell to the floor he was laughing so hard.

For my part, I was very proud of myself for the well executed buffoonery. Little did I realize the pungent set of events that I had set in motion.

It wasn't long after this that Evan came bouncing up to me, index finger extended, giggling so hard that he could hardly stand. "Pull my finger, Daddy!"

Now how could you resist, right? Imitation is the highest form of flattery, no? I must have been very impressive indeed. Michele was giving me the one-eyebrow treatment from across the room. I'm sure that she was imagining the next play group outing, and Evan's new trick being demonstrated for each-and-every Mom in turn.

Well, I decided to risk it. I reached down and pulled Evan's finger. Slowly his cute smile turned into something more of a grimace. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a reddish hue spread across his face. There was a distant look of intense concentration on his face. After a few silent seconds, he gave up and informed me that "it didn't work Daddy".

He was obviously disappointed, and I felt bad. Michele was now within arms reach, so I decided against a lesson in technique at that moment.

It was a couple of hours later after worship and stories that Michele noticed a stain on the backside of Evan's pajamas. It was suspiciously skid-mark in nature, and further inspection revealed our worst fears. The poor kid had learned how not to do the "pull my finger" trick!

The scary part is, I think his intent was to just go to bed and not tell anyone...