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Home › Articles › Essays › Slippin' and Sliding

Slippin' and Sliding

Throw Yourself Into Summer Fun

By John Nixon

Pages:  1  2  

Is it a rule that all little boys must make a mess? But this time, the mess was because of Dad. Yes, the truth is now out: Dads make messes, too.

Sliding...
"Throw me, Dad," said my youngest of 3 years. And what else could I do? So, with my son cradled in my loving arms, I rocked back and then forward, releasing him at a high rate of speed onto the Slip-and-Slide. (OK, put the phone down and don't call CPS. No children were harmed in the making of this summer adventure.)

Next, my 7-year-old. Now we are talking weight. And with heavier children means faster, more exciting travel down the yellow slide of pure summer joy. But because my 7-year-old is a little heavier than my 3-year-old,the 'ole back complains. No matter, there is a challenge to be overcome: that the 7-year-old slide faster and farther than his younger brother. (Side note here: Boys can be very competitive and no one needs to teach them this.) So I spin twice and then release my flightless bird onto the horizontal yellow plastic, aquatically reduced friction, mobile summer slide. He slides, he screams with joy and jumps up, both fists in the air, as if he just won the gold medal for Olympic Long Distance Slip Sliding.

Now, for the backbreaking "you-have-to-prove-you-love-me-too" child throw. The oldest. The 10-year-old, all 57 inches and 70 pounds of him. He knows I am rubbing my lower back as a subtle hope that he will notice and not ask to be cast into the aquatic arch of summer mayhem. Yes, I must prove my fatherly love is equal to all. But a thought occurred to me.

...and Slippin'
I move toward the house and my oldest asks, with a look of sadness, "Where are you going, Dad?" I reply, "Hang on, I've got an idea." Now, if you ask anyone who knows me, when I say "I have an idea," usually nothing good can come of it. But that's silly. I have great ideas. (Like the time I thought it would be great to use a pressure washer on the side of the house while I stood on the roof with some old, worn sneakers. Did you know that pressure washers have a lot of force? Trust me, they do. Get a scaffold if you want to pressure wash the side of your house.) But I digress.

This idea was great. So into the kitchen I went to find the one item that would allow me to provide my oldest both distance and speed. Yes. Dish soap. And not your average dish soap this one had a spring fragrance.

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