Surprise!

Last weekend, I went to Devon for my dad's surprise 50th birthday party. He was surprised! He was especially shocked that I lied to him. I do value honesty and integrity, but when there is a surprise in the works, deviousness must be devised. Of course, I have never lied to my father before in my entire life. [Ahem.]

Benson is lots of fun. He'll be 2 in May. He is already quite the little athlete. He can play hockey (excellent stick-handling), and he has quite an arm on him. He and Grizzly (the dog) also play football. Grizzly tackled Benson, but Benson held his ground. I doubt he'll play baseball, though, because he had his first taste of chewing tobacco on Sunday, and he didn't like it.

Dolores heard Benson say, "caca," and then saw him spit, but she couldn't figure out what he had put in his mouth. She had recently cleaned up after the party, and couldn't think of anything that was left lying around. Meanwhile, my brother and I were watching funny videos on the computer upstairs, and Benson came quietly into the room and stood quietly between us, watching the screen. After a while, I looked over at him and his little cheeks were puffed out, and then he opened his little mouth, and drool poured out like a fountain. I thought, "Uh oh, this kid is retarded and he doesn't swallow his spit when he watches TV." Then I laughed at him. I'm a mean aunt. He just kept drooling all afternoon and he refused to swallow. After he returned to normal, he went behind the couch and said "caca" again. Dolores found a plug of chewing tobacco, and the mystery was solved. The man in the jeans and yellow t-shirt behind me in the picture had slept on the couch after the party and the snuff must have fallen out of his pocket? Benson had seen his grandma's cousin's husband use it before, so he knew exactly what to do!

Oh, these life lessons. When I was about 5 or 6, I learned that chewing tobacco smells like heaven, but tastes like hell.