Now That's Amusing

A couple of weeks ago I created the above smiley with nothing but my son's doodle pad and a simple pencil. In and of itself the smiley doesn't have any interesting story behind it; rather it was simply something that I did to amuse myself for a few hours.

It is a fact that what amuses one will certainly bore another to tears. Point in case, while I enjoyed the monotony of making the above smiley, my husband would have rather used the pencil to stab his eyes out. While we all share some basic concepts of what we find amusing (humor, music, literature, movies, baby animals, sports, games, food etc.) the degree of amusement varies once you break the surface.

I recently discovered that some of the odd things that amuse my little boy also amuse my husband, probably because it triggers a memory from his own strange boyhood.

Simple things, magical things and strange things easily entertain our son. While most things that he finds amusing are humorous to both my husband and I, the strange things tend to leave me feeling as if I'm not part of a super secret club. When something strange occurs, I nod my head and wonder "why?" Whereas my husband has a glint in his eye and a "knowing" nod that seems to be saying "ah yes, I remember doing that." For example, I went to empty the trash can in our powder room and noticed about an inch of yellow liquid pooling in the bottom of the liner. I knew what the liquid was without having to think too hard and I immediately went to talk to its source.

Me: "Have you been peeing in the trash can?"
Son: Says not a word, but guilt is written all over his face and he's looking down at his toes.
Me: "I asked you a question, have you been peeing in the trash can?"
Son: In his most quiet voice, "No..."
Me: "I know Daddy didn't do it and Riley (the dog) didn't do it, so who did it?"
Son: Still looking down, but now he's fidgeting, "It must have been the cats."
Me: "I know the cats didn't do it. Who do you think did it?"
Son: No Response
Me: Growing impatient, "It's not nice to lie. Why did you pee in the trash can?"
Son: No Response
Me: "Have you been peeing in any other trash cans?"
Son: "Well.... when I was in timeout I may have..." he had stopped talking, but his eyes told the rest of the story as they moved toward the little blue bucket next to his dresser.
Me: Walking over to the bucket and discovering dried pee at the bottom I said again, "Why are you peeing in the trash cans?"
Son: Giving me direct eye contact and trying to sound matter of fact, "I had to go to the bathroom and I didn't think you would let me out of time out... so I went in the trash can."
Me: "What? That's disgusting, I would never keep you from going to the bathroom?" I then left his room to check the trash can in the upstairs bath and shouted, "Oh Gross" as I recognize the tell tale signs of urine at the bottom of the can. I am now exasperated to the point that I need to pull my husband away from his movie and ask him to speak to his son.
Husband: In his stern father voice says, "Why have you been peeing in the trash can?"
Son: "I don't know."
Husband: "That's not an answer. You can stay in timeout and think about it some more."

After 10 minutes and three attempts, my husband came to find me and as he recounted the reason our son was peeing in the trash cans, I swear I saw a glint in his eye and perhaps a trace of a nod.

Husband: "Why have you been peeing in the trash can?"
Son: "Well, um, I thought it seemed like it would be sort of fun."
Husband: “Now that’s a reasonable answer. Just don’t do it again.”