The Curse of Tooting-Your-Own-Horn
Don’t do it.
That’s what I thought yesterday, when I wrote a post listing 10 compliments to myself.
Number 4 gave me most pause: After a lot of challenges in school and with behavior, I committed to work with my youngest on improving his attitude in and out of classroom. He is having a great year. Thank God.
Well, when youngest came home from school yesterday it was “game on like Donkey Kong” in the I don’t want to do my homework department.
Yes, I had fallen victim to the Tooting-Your-Own-Horn Curse. A whammy 100 times more powerful than that of the Hope Diamond.
His displeasure in action and spoken word increased mightily in volume when he learned he would have to do this trapped in my car waiting for his sister at piano practice.
Okay, I’m being too word-smithy. He threw a fit of biblical proportions — the ones I thought were only distance clouds of Tasmanian devil dust in my rear view mirror.
I stood my ground. Gritted my teeth and got the homework done in the car, only to learn through a text that he needed to go straight to football practice.
Let’s just say his displeasure at that development was about par for the afternoon.
But once again I said, “Ha, ha . . . Curse of Tooting-Your-Own-Horn — you think you got the best of me?”
I buckled down and got that misbehavin’ little dude in those pads and cleats and we drove to practice.
Once there, I sat in my car writing. Every now and again, I stole a glance at the boy I just had to pry into his helmet.
He was listening and participating as he should have been, then the most amazing thing happened.
Another player was lying flat on his back in the grass. My son walked over to him and offered him a hand up. Then he gave him a good-natured tap on his helmet.
Like they do in those feel-good movies where the misfit team comes from behind to win the championship.
That gesture astounded me.
We have come along way – my youngest and I.
I’ve just got to keep looking at the big picture reflected in small snapshots.
Have you ever experienced a whammy after patting yourself on the back?
