“I was hoping Daddy would bring me something more beautiful than a flashlight”
The reptile is in the middle of another mental growth spurt. She now reads her Dr. Seuss books and store names and even the dirty words scrawled on bathroom walls. Stewart and I stand around beaming at each other with each new advance. And now this…
I’ve spent the last three years dazzling Ava with the most basic of gifts on my return from business trips. Meeting name tags, trade show swag… She now has a treasured collection of hotel room keys. No matter how boring the gift, she always squeals with delight at the thought of “a gift’. She has carried hotel room keys around for days after my return. So you can imagine my excitement when a new vendor presented me over lunch with a blue box containing a fancy mini flashlight with spare batteries no less. We all know that Ava is flashlight junkie. So I thought this would be peak of my spoils of battle. I teased her over dinner with the prospects of this special travel gift. We came home, she busted through the door, opened the blue box, then summoned Stewart into the hallway. “I was hoping Daddy would bring me something more beautiful than a flashlight”.
Howls of laughter from Mrs. Harris followed this advanced statement, then Ava realized this might not be the proper response to a gift and refused to tell me about her reaction. Finally she came clean and added, “You know Daddy, maybe something like a crown would be pretty” She even put her fingers in a ring over her head to show me where this crown would rest.
