The Honeymoon

I am not a storyteller. When I put the kids to bed I let each of them choose a library book and I read it to them. When my husband puts the kids to bed, he tells them a story from his life and he always makes them laugh. I'm totally jealous.

The story he told them tonight had me a little nervous at first but laughing pretty good by the end. He started out by saying, "On the first day that Mommy and Daddy were married they got to sleep together." And I thought, "What the heck kinda story are you telling these innocents?" But I think he was just trying to get across to them that it was the first time we were able to go camping together just the two of us. He told them about how I had worked on a trails crew for the Forest Service that summer so I took him to one of my favorite places on the state land. He let the kids know very clearly that I was the one who packed everything we would need for the trip including the food.

Then he said, "When we got there Mommy had me carry a box and it was a heavy box, and she got a few things, but there were still more things in the truck. And I said, 'what about the rest of the stuff?' and she said, 'oh where we'll camp isn't far,' and then she had us walk FIVE MILES!" (This being a complete exaduration!!! It was probably 3/4 of a mile - just far enough to keep a person healthy). Then he continued, "When we got to the campsite, your Mommy started pulling out the stuff from the box and she asked, 'Do you like potatoes?' and I said, 'Yeah, I like potatoes,' and then she pulled a FIFTY pound bag of potatoes out of the box. And I was like, 'so do you have friends coming up to join us tonight, because, I mean that's cool and all, but I don't need fifty pounds of potatoes,' and then she pulled out a FIFTY pound bag of carrots and she said, 'don't worry, we can just walk the FIVE MILES back to the car with what we don't eat.'" I was listening to all of this from the kitchen while I was cutting up the bread I'd made for the day and laughing at the recollection - all of it far too true. He carried a dutch oven out there, and tons of food, and a tent, and a shovel for digging a fire pit, and sleeping bags, and more food - all for one night. He learned much about the absolute lack of common sense his new bride was bringing him that night.
And then he said, "The next day we packed everything up and started taking it FIVE MILES back to the car. And I had lots of stuff and your Mommy had lots of stuff. And do you know what happened? Your Mommy's flip-flop broke. So what did she do? She took off the other one and hauled things up and down the trail bare foot. You've got one crazy Mommy." And with that the kids got their I-love-yous and their goodnight kisses.

I never would have thought of that being a goodnight story. But I guarantee you the kids will be asking how many pounds of potatoes I made Dad carry for the next week or two. Some folks just know how to find and tell a story.