I've Got Your Back Brady Kelly, Odessa, TX
My dad and I were playing golf one day and there were very nice
houses on the sides of the fairway. I hit my drive and broke one the
windows on one of the houses. My dad said "Don't worry son, I'm
right beside you if the owner comes out and starts yelling." Sure
enough the owner comes out and my dad runs the other way.
Bathing Beauty Bryan Elbell, Spring Hill, FL
A couple of years ago, my wife and I adopted a precious
five-year-old girl. It didn't take long before she had us wrapped
around her finger. Being the dad, I found out that my role was
limited to going to work so I could make money and buy her things,
and being the deciding vote to see whether she could do or have
things after mommy told her no. If I sided with my wife, I was the
"Mean Old Dad." If I took my daughters side, then I knew that my
wife would be mentally placing me in a "time out" and would be more
than grateful to voice her opinion later on in the just planned
discussion we would be having later. My wife comes from a large
family with hordes of nieces, so it was only appropriate for every
one of her brothers and sisters to bestow upon us, all the clothes
that their girls had outgrown. Well one fine evening, I was
recruited to be a judge for all the bathing suits that had been
given to our daughter. Mommy would help her put them on in the
bedroom, and the little one would come out to show me what it looked
like. After about 15 fittings and displays, she emerged from the
bedroom with the last suit, which was a very cute set that looked
liked something straight from the French Riviera. She asked me how
it looked, and I replied "That's the best one yet. It looks
European." To which she got a horrific look on her face, bent over
at the waist, looked down and said to me "Daddy I'm not peein'."
Thor's Paddle Jim Eigel, Cincinnati, OH
I went to a Catholic high school in Cincinnati. Way back when they
gave swats to discipline us. They had to. It was an all male school,
500 kids; it was the only way to keep us in line. We knew it. It
worked, and none of us are mentally scarred from it.
The teacher went around the classroom checking to make sure we had
done our homework. Any one who didn't do their homework was invited
to the front of the class for a swat. After a check of the class,
there were five of us up front lined up awaiting the consequences of
our inaction. The teacher says, "I'd really rather you all did your
homework rather than get a swat. Your gonna get your swat, and five
minutes later your going to forget all about the swat. You still
haven't done your homework and your going to walk out of here just
as stupid as when you walked in!"
"But..." he continued, "since it's raffle season, I'm going to give
you a choice: the five of you can take a swat, OR you each buy a
raffle ticket and help support the school." The five of us looked at
each other, scowling and puffing our 17-year-old chests out and said
"Yeah, we'll take the swat."
Dan was first up and, stepping up to the front, 'assumes the
position.' The teacher, who was really one of the football coaches
who pretended to be a teacher, checks his grip on the beautifully
hand crafted, varnished paddle fashioned in shop class with holes
drilled in it to reduce wind resistance, and took aim. With a
shoulder turn that rivaled a Tiger Woods tee shot, the teacher winds
up and releases with a fury that resonated through the Mighty Halls
like a crack of thunder from Thor's Hammer. Whaacckkkk! To this day,
it was hardest dayum swat I've ever seen in my life. Forget about it
in five minutes?!! It's been more than 35 years and I'll bet Dan
hasn't sat down YET.
As we picked our lower jaws up off the floor, the four of us
remaining towers of courage suddenly felt a searing heat in our
wallet. You'd have thought those dollar bills mysteriously caught
fire as we reach into our back pocket and nobly contributed to a
most worthy charity, our esteemed Annual High School Raffle. We may
not have learned our history lesson, but we for darn sure weren't
that stupid.
Choice Words Tom Tippery, Odon, IN
When my wife and I were first married, we were in that lovey-dubby
mode. Then one day I changed that for a few weeks with this comment.
We got in an argument and my wife says to me, "Tom I am sorry that I
am not perfect for you." Here is the comment that changed all that:
"Well honey I would settle for mediocre." I actually said that! We
have been married now 18 wonderful years and the Lord has blessed
us. Today we laugh at that argument together. God Bless you Jeff.
Life Imitating Art Sue Boling, Lake Orion, MI
I'm a big fan of the comic strip Zits, about a family, but
mainly centers around the teenage son. I've also been a big fan of
curfews regardless of age. My theory being ... if a child can come
and go as he pleases, what would ever motivate him to move out!? All
this to set up the following. I've never been crazy about my
teenager sleeping half the day away, so I make sure to motivate him
by 10:00a.m. Whenever necessary. One day after several years of this
my son shows me one of the latest Zits cartoons where the
teenager is sleeping until noon, and say's, in front of his friends
that were visiting, "See Mom this is normal." I said "Son, you
realize you are comparing yourself to a 15-year-old cartoon
character?" My son was 20 years old at the time.
Long and Totally Worth It! Kyle Koehler, Springfield, OH
In April, I took my first long distance camping expedition with my
wife and five children (ages 11, 9, 7, 5 and 3) from Springfield
Ohio to Gatlinburg Tennessee. We were pulling a newer popup camper
with a Ford Excursion. Both completely packed with our supplies and
belongings.
On St Rte. 40 between Knoxville and Gatlinburg Tennessee, we
experienced a blowout on our popup camper's passenger side tire. The
traffic was incredibly heavy and I quickly pulled to the side of the
road even though there was very little real estate to do so. The
trucks and cars in the right lane were flying by.
I had a very good attitude about the situation and reassured my wife
and five children that this was situation that I could handle.
I found myself feeling like the father in The Christmas Story…
“Alright dear, let’s see if I can break my record for changing a
tire!”
I had the spare off the back of the camper in no time. I was
confident since I knew the spare had never been used - and still had
the little rubber hairs on it to prove it! I was also under the
delusion that I could jack up the camper with the stabilizer jacks
on the camper itself… that did not work. This was not bad until I
realized, having never had a flat on my SUV, that I didn’t know
where the car jack was located. Finally it hit me that the jack was
under the floor of the back storage area which was methodically
packed to the hilt with our luggage. The problem was compounded by
the fact that we had installed a bike rack over the rear doors of
the car that held 3 bikes.
We removed the bikes, bike rack, and luggage for 7 people from the
Excursion before we located the jack. I jacked up the camper,
changed the tire and started letting down the camper when it became
obvious that although the spare tire was brand new… it had sat on
the camper for 2 years (through 2 winters) and had lost most of its
air. But that’s OK because I had purchased a road side emergency kit
that included a 12-volt air pump.
My wife had been busy repacking all the luggage into the back of the
SUV (this time not as methodical as Dad had done the night before),
and reinstalling the bike rack. I am sad to say that the road side
emergency kit was located beneath the now repacked luggage and bike
rack.
It is important to say that at this point the kids were getting
restless and wanted (even demanding) to get out of the car on a busy
highway. Needless to say that was not going to happen no matter how
many times EACH of them asked. They are also my children, with my
inherited genes, so the more trouble it appeared Dad was having the
more they felt it was their responsibility to come out and rescue
Dad (no matter what Mom said).
Bike rack off, luggage out, air pumped located, luggage simply
tossed back in and bikes now merely dangling from the bike rack.
(Special note should be made that the eventual campground had
virtually no place to ride bikes.)
With the air pump plugged in, I walked back towards the installed,
but flat, spare only to find out that the cord for the pump only
reached a little bit farther than the back of the bumper of the
SUV!!! Out comes the car jack as I need to lift the camper, pull off
the wheel, and roll it up along side the car to fill it. The kids
are now hot because I’ve turned off the car worrying about it
overheating along side the road and to keep me from breathing in
exhaust fumes from working on that particular side of the car.
American Comedy Stories
My wife was trying her best to keep the kids in the car even though
the kids' car door has to remain open to keep them cool and to get
to the 12-volt outlet inside the car for the air compressor. Our
three boys in the back at this point keep pushing the seats forward
to attempt an escape. Only to be pushed back by the two older girls
in the middle seat. As I just begin filling the tire, the boys make
one final push to get out as the girls shove their middle seat back
into the “upright position” causing the metal hinge and sliding
mechanism on the seat to cut the cord on the 12-volt air compressor!
At this point I lose my cool and am tempted to join the “soap club”
with the little boy from the movie The Christmas Story. I now
have a flat spare, a shredded original tire, an air pump with a cut
power cord and small children looking at Dad losing it along the
highway.
I do my best imitation of “MacGyver” as I cut and splice the cord
back together using finger nail scissors (not making this up) my
wife had in her purse. The kids are all sitting motionless in their
seats folding their hands due to my threats of leaving them along
the highway in Tennessee. Finally the pump is running again…
although running is an overstatement as I believe I could have
created more air pressure after a good meal of beans around the
campfire.
After about another 20 minutes, the pump creates enough pressure to
get us about 5 miles down the road, going well below the speed limit
(and the semi-tractor trailers doing 70 MPH), to the next exit and
gas station.
We enjoy laughing about this today and our family is closer because
of it. Oh, and by the way, it rained every day we were in
Tennessee.
Engineering Challenges Submitted by Lillie Zable,
Vancouver, WA
In our house we were all about child safety. We were careful with
things that we knew could be harmful to our young children; so it
was reasonable for us to attach safety latches to our lower kitchen
cabinets to prevent our two-year-old son from getting into things
that could be dangerous. I watched as my husband diligently attached
each safety latch and then proceeded to try it out to make certain
it was secure. Unfortunately I was not the only one watching him.
When he was almost finished with this little chore, I looked over
and watched our two-year-old son gently open the cabinet door, push
down on the newly attached safety latch and, with a smile, he
proudly opened the cabinet door. At this point we decided that we
would simply have to place anything that was potentially dangerous
high enough to be out of his reach. The only problem with this was
that I am only four feet, ten inches tall, so everything was also
out of my reach! Postscript: I am happy to say that our two-year-old
son survived and is now 29. He is a mechanic for the military (no
big surprise there), and he has two beautiful daughters who are
providing him with the same challenges that he gave to us. We will
be going with our son and his wife to see you in Yelm, WA in April.
We are all huge fans of your comedy; thank you for sharing your God
given talent.
Efficiency Expert Submitted by Amy Wyatt, Corryton, TN
The other day on the way home from school, we were driving past a
field full of cows. My ten-year-old daughter said "Wow, look at that
cow. It can poop and walk at the same time!" My seven-year-old
daughter replied "Wow, I wish that I could poop and walk at the same
time!" (I can only imagine what makes a seven-year-old girl's life
so busy that she really needs that skill.)
Three's a Crowd Submitted by Cheryl, Blue Springs, MO
We had three kids and wanted one more. We got triplets. Boys.
It was like we never had kids before in our lives. They broke
everything. None of those child safety gizmos worked. I could
have made a lot of money for them to test them out. At age two, one
of the boys stacked his toys and climbed on his dresser to get to a
box of things I didn't want them to get into. This was in a place
where I had to stand on the tip of my toes to reach. He pulled it
down and then painted all three of their faces with Desiten butt
cream! After I stopped laughing, I casually read the back of the
tube. It said, "if digested call poison control." They would make a
hole in the wall (they called it their attic) and then stash their
older siblings' things, like wallets, in the hole. I can relate to a
lot of your stories. Three of the six kids have ADHD! I go nuts when
they cancel school for bad weather. Please come to our church or one
close to Kansas City. We want to see you so badly and bring our
friends. They would pee their pants if they saw you. I cry from
laughter when I watch your DVDs.
Ready to Wear Submitted by Tammy, Parnell, MO
This year for Thanksgiving I decided to have KFC for our dinner due
to finances and laziness. About two days before, I told my oldest
son Brendan that we weren't having a big turkey dinner but chicken
instead. He said it's a good thing I told him cause he would have
worn his turkey pants and would have been way over-dressed for
chicken.
Excuse Who? Submitted by Gary Pritchard, Belmont, MI
I've been driving my mother's 1998 White Oldsmobile 88 for the
winter months. I stopped in Walgreen's to pick up some medication,
paid the cashier and walked out. It wasn't until after I got in my
car and shut the door that I noticed there was a sweet grey haired
lady sitting in the passenger seat! She looked at me with a big
smile and said: "Hello!" and I said "Hello." Then I said: "Can I
help you?" she said, "Not really, but I think you're in the wrong
car." I said: "I don't think so." But then I glanced out the
driver's window and noticed a white 1998 Oldsmobile 88 with a tan
interior sitting right next door. I politely apologized, crawled out
of her car and into mine. I quickly backed out and noticed her
husband coming out of Walgreen's and getting into their. As I was
driving away, I heard them laughing out loud.
That Look Submitted by Danny Wright, Riverview, FL
One thing I want to share with you ladies out there: there is no
such thing as "dress sweats" for church. There, I've I said it. I
feel better.
Tales of Woe
The Big Greasy Submitted by Rob Hottes, New Milford, CT
A few years ago, my aunt had Thanksgiving dinner at her house. After
getting up at the crack of dawn to begin preparing a lavish meal for
more than 30 guests, she soon got tired of washing dishes. Her
solution? She began stockpiling them in the washroom, with thoughts
of getting to them later. After the meal was over, her sons
volunteered to help clean up. (Big mistake!) With her youngest son
washing and her oldest drying, they cleared off the table in no time
flat. That's when she started bringing out her "secret stash." THREE
HOURS LATER, they had hand washed practically every piece of
silverware and pot and pan in the house, as well as a few vases and
a toilet.
Deep Thoughts Submitted by Terry Abbot, Louisville, KY
Riding in the car with my six-year-old grandson one day. Daniel: "Pawpaw,
when is the sun closest to the earth?" Me: "I'm not sure Daniel.
Mamaw was a science teacher, we'll ask her when we get home".
Daniel. "Yeah, we'll ask Mamaw, she knows everything!" Me: "Now, I
do know some things". Daniel: "That's cause you're married to
Mamaw".
Day Tripping Submitted by Angela Evans, Villa
Park, CA
One day, as we were wandering around the mall, my five-year-old son
kept tripping over his untied shoe laces. He would get flustered,
but wouldn't let me help him tie them, so they continued to come
untied. Finally, after a few more near spills, I asked him, "Timmy,
are you having issues?" He looked at me, glanced at his untied shoes
and then, with furrowed eyebrows that expressed duuuuuuuh mom, he
replied "No, I have BLUE shoes, Mommy."
Better than X-rays Submitted by Dorothy Wilson, Livonia,
MI
My 19 month old daughter had just woke up from her nap and when I
put her down she started limping. I was concerned and didn't know
what to do. It got worse and worse. I called the doctor and she said
to take her to the hospital for an x-ray. While we were waiting to
be called into the room, I thought I'd take off her shoe to get her
ready. That's when I discovered the barrette in her shoe....
Vigilante Mom and the Chili Spread
Submitted by Darren McClelland, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
As a preface to my story, let me say that when I hear people speak
of their quiet, sweet, sensitive and wise Proverbs 31 moms with whom
they shared such great kinship and mother/child bond... I don't
relate!
While I did appreciate my Mom - and loved her in a whole new light
after I became a Christian in 1999, the truth is she was an abused
hurting soul her whole life and masked her pain by being both a
verbally abusive alcoholic and/or the true life of any party -
depending on if you were family or friend. All I know is she could
really fire the verbal missiles at Dad and us kids. Having said
that, I was a quiet, shy kid who spent a good portion of my youth as
a loner. When I was with Mom, my hands were often covering my face
in embarrassment at my her escapades.
When I was growing up, there were few things as tasty as Dad's
homemade chili.
One summer, as we prepared to leave for a family reunion in Fort
Erie, Dad packed into the trunk of his 1972 cherry red Plymouth
Satellite a large pot of his chili for our relatives, along with all
our suitcases, and our dress clothes on hangars with plastic on
them.
Usually, my Dad was the driver on these family trips, but part of
the way down Highway 401, for some odd reason, he allowed Mom take
the wheel (Dad? What are you doing? Dad?). All was going along just
fine - I was in the back seat with my cassette player (remember that
quality music media you could fish out of the shell and string
around a tree...or your little brother's wrists - those were the
days) listening to music through earphones, when suddenly, BAM,
another car smashed into us from behind. We were all startled at the
impact; thankfully, the crash did not cause the car to go into the
ditch.
While Dad and I watched incredulously, Mom blurted out some choice
words that pierced my tender ears. Then she changed lanes abruptly,
slowed the car so as to come alongside the offending vehicle that
had smashed into us, and forced the other vehicle off the road -
Dukes of Hazzard style - and then she pulled our car over and
came to a stop in a cloud of dust. As her car door flew open, the
palms of my hands assumed their normal position over my face in
profound embarrassment at what I knew was coming next.
As I had experienced at various times in my life, making my mom
angry was not a recipe for success. Does Charles Bronson in Death
Wish 1 through 20 ring a bell? How about Clint Eastwood in his
subtle Dirty Harry character exacting arrest, trial, and
sentence in one shot.
Well, this person who had smashed into us was about to receive the
wrath of the "Vigilante Mom!" In my embarrassment, I cowered down in
the backseat as Mom got out of the car and went to speak to the
driver of the offending car. Without the word of a lie, I could hear
Mom's yelling over the roar of highway traffic speeding by - cursing
at this poor woman - accusing her of being drunk and on drugs.
Apparently, the driver of the other car was a nurse who had worked
all night. She’d fallen asleep at the wheel and collided with the
rear of our car. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the collision;
unfortunately, Mom had verbally assaulted the other woman into
tears. At this point, the poor nurse was probably thinking that
death by car crash was preferable to the scenario unfolding before
her.
Who was this woman? The female version of Charles Bronson in
Death Wish? Or Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry? No lady...
that's my mom.
When we arrived at our hotel, Mom and I stood around Dad as he
opened the trunk so we could take our things up to the room. One
thing that he hadn't thought of doing is sealing the chili pot
securely for travel, so - you guessed it - the impact of the
accident had turned his pot of famous recipe into a chili spread,
all over our clothes!
After what had been a dramatic and adventurous day, all three of us
could do nothing else but burst out laughing. Even Mom, who up to
this point had been torqued at the day's events, was howling. It
felt good to release all that tension and realize that we were lucky
to be alive.
Fast forward many years - after I had become only the second
Christian in our family - to Mom on her deathbed. God gave me the
opportunity to be alone with her on the last day of her life. This
particular day at the hospital, there was no one in her room - no
nurses or doctors circling about - just us. I sat on the side of her
bed and felt the love of Christ pouring through me to my Mom. I told
her how much God loved her and asked if I could pray with her. She
barked at me "Don't preach at me." I almost laughed at the irony of
her rebuke. Here she is, almost ready to breathe her last breath,
and enter eternity and judgment with God, and she doesn't want to
hear about Him!
The truth is, though, her mom had been a devoted Christian who had
already planted the gospel in my Mom's heart. After Mom passed away,
God confirmed in my spirit, and my wife's spirit, that my Mom had
already done business with God in the final stretch of her life and
had accepted Christ.
Hale and Farewell Submitted by Tammy Koon, williamsfield,
OH
When our son was six he took a necklace from his grandmother. He
walked in the door and pulled it out of his hat and said, "Oh, now
how did that get in there?" Being good Christian parents, we sat him
down and asked him, "Do you know where liars and people who steal
go?" "They go to 'Hale'" he replied. (He was born in Ohio but
somehow managed to grow up with a West Virginia accent.) "Yes, they
do honey. So, because we love you, we must punish you." To which he
replied "Can't you just send me to Hale?"
Post-Op Submitted by Kevin
Franz, Antioch, CA
My wife was scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. out-patient hernia operation
at the hospital and was suppose to be out of post-op around 3:00. I
left work dressed in my road construction attire, bright orange
t-shirt, blue jeans, boots and ball cap and arrived at the hospital
a few minutes early hoping to be there when she came out. Checking
in at the nurses station, I was informed that not only was she not
out of post-op yet but that she was still in pre op - due to
complications the preceding surgeon was having with his surgeries.
It would probably be closer to 5:30 before she was out of post-op
and I was given a phone number to call and check on her status. I
then left to run a few errands and around 5:30 I called and was told
that she was in surgery at this time and to give it another hour or
so before she would be out. At 6:30 I returned to the hospital,
which, by the way, is a good half-hour drive from our house in
traffic or I would have returned home. After a few phone calls I was
informed that she had just entered post-op and it would be a little
while longer before she was brought back to her room to be checked
out again and then released. It so happened that her room was only a
very short distance from the waiting room where the TV was located,
so I grabbed a seat where I could see the door to her room and
waited a bit impatiently for her return. Finally around 7:30 p.m. a
gurney rolled by in the hallway with a female body on it covered up
to her neck in blankets with warming towels wrap around her head
with only a small portion of her face showing. AND it was left by my
wife's door. So I jumped up and walked up to my wife, smiled at her
beautiful restful face, petted her towel-wrapped head, planted a
gentle loving kiss on her lips and told her that I was there and I
loved her. She then opened her eye's and smiled at me and to my
horror it was NOT my wife's smile. Lord what have I gotten myself
into now? Camera's everywhere! No place to run! Bright orange shirt
and a wife on her way up from post-op. Sorry honey, but when you
recover would you please come down and bail me out! I can't believe
this has happened and I tell the 17-year-old young lady that
everything turned out okay and her family should be with her
shortly. Back into the waiting room I started preparing for whatever
came next - be it screams or the hospital security who caught the
whole thing on their security cameras. A few minutes later the young
lady was wheeled away and my wife was brought to her room. I went
into her room and as soon as I was finished with all the appropriate
identity measures and was sure that I was truly with my near
50-year-old wife (not 17). I quickly tried to share my infidelities
with my barely coherent wife just in case I was taken into custody.
It's not a good idea to have a knucklehead sharing this kind of a
story to someone who has just had a hernia operation. It hurts. And
then the nurses all get involved and are rolling around in hysterics
and are making up little stories now about the poor boyfriend of the
young lady who will probably wonder why she can't get her bo to kiss
her in such a tender loving manner again. A year or so later, my
wife had another outpatient surgery and this time when I went into
her room after post-op, there were signs everywhere with directions
to my wife placed there by all the snickering nurses.
A Plum a Day Submitted by Chris
Lynch, Palm Springs, CA
One day when my oldest daughter was three years old, she tripped and
banged her knee. It was a slight scratch and she was half crying
when she came into the kitchen. "Daddy, I hurt my knee." After
taking a good look at the scratch, I told her there wasn't much we
could do and that the pain would go away quickly. Then I asked her
if a fresh plum would make her feel better. She said it would and I
handed her the plum. Whereupon, she pressed it to her knee and
handed it back and said, "Thanks Dad, it feels much better now."
Not Very Far Submitted by John
Robbins, Newport Beach, CA
I'm in the kitchen cooking when my son comes in from watching TV. He
says, "Dad, I'd like to go not very far." So, I said, "Alright, how
far do you want to go?" A few days later my son and I are watching
TV and he points to the set and says, "Not very far!" It was a
commercial for Knott's Berry Farm.
Gone
for Broke Submitted by Anon.
As a plumbing contractor, who has several employees, I received a
call from the wife of an employee asking for her husband. I told her
he wasn't here. He was out working on a job site. Her next statement
was that her water broke. I tried to tell her where she could find a
shut-off, but that wasn't the water that broke.
Family Drive Submitted by Curtis Hamm, Prattville, Al
One day, when I was a kid, the family went for a drive. As we passed
a meadow full of grazing cows, I asked my mother why the fence was
around the property. "It's to keep the cows from roaming around,"
she answered. A little further down the road we drove past a
minimum-security prison. "Why is that fence there," I asked. "It's
to keep the prisoners from roaming around," Mom said. Soon, we saw a
large, old cemetery with broken, overgrown tombstones, oak trees
filled with Spanish moss and a rusted, wrought iron fence
surrounding it. As we made our way past, way too slowly for my
taste, my sister nudged me and whispered, "Why do you suppose that
fence is there?" I didn't sleep for three nights.
Disney World Rest Stop Submitted by Curtis Hamm,
Prattville, Alabama
When my daughter was three years old, we took her to Disney World.
Driving from Millbrook, Alabama, we decide to take a break at a rest
stop just west of Tallahassee, Florida. While we were walking around
stretching our legs, my daughter asked, "Is this Disney World?"
Hindsight being 20/20, I could have said "Yes honey, it is!" and
saved a couple thousand bucks.
Picturing
Moses by Anita Glover, Flowery Branch, GA
My four-year-old son brought me a picture of Moses that he had
"crafted" in Sunday School. I told him how nice the picture was and
how much I liked the colors that he used. Then I asked him, "What
did you learn about Moses today?" His response: "I learned Moses had
googly eyes."
The Sound of Dinner Annie Doezie, Newport Beach, CA
Getting close to dinnertime. After running errands all day in the
minivan with my young son and daughter in tow, I casually ask, "How
does chicken sound?" And from the backseat my son replies, "Bahk,
bahk, bahhhk!"
Not Your Grandmother's Rabbit Foot Brian Davis,
Manchester, TN
We have two small dogs. A male Chihuahua and a female toy poodle.
Recently the poodle came into heat so the male is constantly doing
what dogs do, sniffing her, and so on. We don't want puppies so I
told my wife in front of my young son that we should take the male
dog to the vet and get his "things" cut off. Then my son says,
"Yeah, then we can put 'em on a key chain and sell 'em on eBay!"
Fact
Check Nicole Nelson, Janesville, WI
My family and I love your performance on Bananas. We own it on DVD
and I watch it so often I basically have it memorized. So, as an
inside joke, my sister bought me a Daisy one-pump for my birthday
last week... and some CoolWhip. We tried it out and found out that
1. I have horrible aim, and 2. It does penetrate CoolWhip.
Protection for Children Kelley Christian, Pittsburgh,
PA
One afternoon my son and I were driving in the car. My son was in
first grade, and he loved to tell me what he learned in school. Out
of nowhere he blurts out, "Mom we learned what condoms are in school
today."
I almost drove off the road. I took a deep breath and asked my son
to repeat what he had just said.
"We learned what condoms were today," he proudly replied.
I kept my cool, took another deep breath, and asked him to share
with me what he had learned. All the while my mind was racing to a)
wonder what the heck they teach seven-year-olds these days and b)
try to come up with the simplest birds and bees talk I could muster.
"Condoms Mom. You know, ketchup, mustard, things like that."
That Little Piggy
Chasity Compton, Mt. Hope, AL
It was my son's 4th
birthday and my husband and I had agreed to take the kids to
celebrate at Chuck-E-Cheese. I had it all planned out. My husband
had to work until 6:00 so I was going to get the kids ready, run by
the grocery store bakery and pick up a cake that I had ordered and
then meet them there. Meanwhile, I was rushing around the house,
barefooted, trying to get our two small children ready. I came
flying through the living room and caught my pinky toe on the corner
or our entertainment center. I went one way and my little toe went
another. I had broken it. Once I caught my breath and quit crying, I
hobbled around the house to finish getting dressed. It hit me
suddenly that there was no way that being 7 months pregnant and
having a painfully swollen foot that I would be able to carry 2 kids
in town to pick up the cake. I could barely walk as it was. I
searched my brain for an idea and remembered that my best friend
lived about 2 minutes from the grocery store that I was to pick the
cake up from. I called her to ask if she could run in and get it and
then I could just drive by her house and she could bring it out to
me. This way, I wouldn't have to get out my car. My son overheard me
talking to her and telling her about my pinky toe accident and how I
needed her to run in the grocery store for me. When I got off of the
phone he looked at me with those big blue innocent eyes and without
cracking a smile, he asked, "What's wrong mommy? Does your little
piggy not want to go to the market today?"
Pushing The Human Sponge Danny
Wright, Riverview FL
My 3-year-old
son, Hayden, is a sponge. He soaks up everything around,
him especially when you least expect it... especially
commercials. We're driving down the road one day and he
pipes up from the back seat. "Daddy, can we go where
shopping is a pleasure?" I didn't get what he was saying
so he repeated the question. It was then that I noticed we
were passing our local grocery store chain, Publix, whose
slogan is "Where shopping is a pleasure." And then one day
I was talking to a friend and Hayden was just playing on
the floor. I mentioned something about riding the subway
and guess what he yells out without even looking up from
his toys? "EAT FRESH!!!" This is why, when I'm driving and
someone cuts me off, "moron" becomes "Mormon."
Part II: Now my wife and I are expecting our second son.
Hayden is sitting beside his mother one day when the baby
kicked. Since he was leaning against her stomach, he
actually felt it. Upset, he looks up at his mommy and
says, "Hey, he PUSHED me." To which she looks over at me
and mouths, "Greeaaat. It's already starting!
Objective Objectification? Toni Robertson
Nelson, Las Vegas, NV
I am driving
our oldest son, then thirteen, to his first "girl/boy"
party. He looks up at me wistfully and asks, "Mom, am I
good looking?" To which I quickly reassure him that he is.
He counters with, "No, Mom, I mean am I - even if you
weren't my mom?"
Instant Karma Rhonda, Berwick, PA
One day in
the midst of working, chasing children, cleaning the house
and all the very busy things a housewife does during her
day, the phone rang. It was my husband on the phone, "Hi
honey, what are you doing?" My impatient response was, "I
don't have time for this - what do you want?!" He said, "
I just heard the song, I Just Called to Say I Love You,
and so I thought I would call and say I love you." Though
many years have gone by, I still think of what a toad I
was to him that day. Bless you, darling!
Where Frogs Go Skip Blaeser, Boxford, MA
Out in our
backyard is a freestanding basketball hoop, the kind you
stabilize by filling the big plastic base with a ton of
water with a hose. At some point, the "fill cap" went
missing, and one evening while grilling, I noticed the
6-year-old put a frog through the hole. "Oh my gosh, don't
do that!" I said. "He'll never be able to get back out of
there!" "It's OK, mom," said my older son. "That's where
he puts ALL the frogs." Ever helpful, my husband piped up,
"Hey sweetie, I'll give you all my money if you empty that
one out at the end of the season." I told him," I already
have all your money. You take all the kids to my mom's
next Saturday and tell her I had to work for the day." And
so it was that he offered to pour out the dead frog
Slushie.
A Simple Solution Scott Long,
Cary, NC
My wife and I
were standing in line waiting to get a table at a local
restaurant. I saw a little boy waiting with his daddy. I
said hello to him and asked him how old he was. "Six." he
said. "Wow. That is great." I replied. Then, wanting to
have a little fun with him I said, "I wish I knew how old
I was." This clearly surprised him and he peered at me
with a really funny look on his face. "What?" he said. "I
don't know how old I am," I replied. "I guess I just
forgot." He let out a sigh and, without missing a beat, he
very matter-of-factly said, "Just wait till your next
birthday and count the candles."
Can't Get Enough Abigail Robinson,
Gonzales, LA
This
Christmas my mom and I were in the LifeWay bookstore and I
showed her your Bananas DVD and she kinda looked at it and
said I could get it. Well, a couple weeks later she saw me
watching the DVD and got upset. When I asked her what was
wrong, she said that she had forgotten that she had let me
get it and had bought me the same thing for Christmas!
Thankfully my mom isn't really big on that kind of stuff
and it turned out she had purchased a different Jeff Allen
Bananas DVD, so now we have two DVDs full of your
wonderful comedy!
A Time for Manners Donna Pounds,
Midland, TX
When my son,
Cody, was five-years-old, we were visiting my uncle, his
wife (Aunt Sharon), and their four-year-old daughter,
Rebecca. Aunt Sharon and I were talking when suddenly
Rebecca came running in the room yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!"
Aunt Sharon said, "Rebecca, remember we've been talking
about manners? You are interrupting, and that's not good
manners." Then we finished our conversation. All the while
we were talking, Rebecca was silent but anxiously shifting
her weight from foot to foot. At last, Aunt Sharon turned
to Rebecca and said "All right, Rebecca, it's your turn
now... what did you want to say?" Rebecca started jumping
up and down and excitedly blurted out "Mommy! Mommy! The
television fell on top of Cody!" He was fine, and my aunt
and I laughed until we cried! And of course, she taught
Rebecca about exceptions to the rules!
Crossfooted
Jaysen Martin, Davenport, IA
My daughter
had an enormous problem when she was 4 to 5 years old. No
matter how many times I tried to teach her what shoe went
on which foot, should would put the left shoe on the right
foot and vice versa. I tried and tried to get her to get
them the right way - I mean you would think that by sheer
random chance she would get it right 50% of the time, but
she never had the right one on the right foot (no pun
intended). Finally, one day I was frustrated about it and
I told her that I couldn't believe that she could never
get this right and that next time she should just cross
her legs before she put her shoes on. The next morning I
was totally surprised when she ran down the stairs yelling
"Daddy, daddy, look! It worked!!" Yes, they were on the
correct feet and have been ever since. She is now 16. I
can only assume she is still crossing her legs.
Wild
Wild Westcicle
Elizabeth Wallen, Loretto, PA
When my son,
Davy, was three years old, one of his favorite movies was
John Wayne's Rio Bravo. One day when I was making
dinner, Davy came out to ask if he might have a popsicle.
I told him no, he could not. A few minutes later he came
back into the kitchen and told me to call him Dude (a
character from Rio Bravo).
I said, "Oh,
hello Dude. When did you get here?"
"I am just
passing through. Can I have a popsicle?"
"I just told
you that you could not have one."
"You told
Davy he couldn't have one. I am Dude!"
Just
a Request
Cynthia Bernsdorf, Nazareth, PA
When my son
was seven-years-old, we hired a babysitter to go out. We
returned home to find the children still awake but in
their rooms. They were supposed to be going to sleep but
since they weren't, they were simply told by the sitter to
stay in their rooms. His room was at the top of the
stairs. When he heard us downstairs, he quickly went to
work. Knowing that he wasn't allowed out of his room, he
wrote us a note, folded it into a paper airplane, and
sailed it down to us. Landing at our feet, we opened it to
read his simple request..."Dear Mom and Dad, Can I pop
some popcorn without the lid on or explode a potato in the
microwave?"
If I
Only Didn't Have a ...
Stephanie, Bel Air, MD
I'm a mother of three, two older sons and a younger daughter named
Cara. When Cara was three-years-old her older brothers started
singing "Cara has a brain, Cara has a brain..." hoping that she
would take offence. She came running to me crying,
"Mommy, tell them I don't have a brain!"
Aid
for the Ailing King
Roger Kays, La Habra, CA
I was helping out in a Sunday school class for 5-6 year-olds. The
discussion was about King David and how he was such a great man of
God. The teacher pointed out that, though David was a great hero of
the faith and a "man after God's own heart," he fell several times.
One petite, little girl raised her hand and asked, "When King David
fell did his mommy give him Flintstones band-aids?"
Shower Scare Katie Kamps,
Appleton, WI
It was my first time showering in the downstairs bathroom at our new
house. I was about nine years old. I decided to use the soap and
shampoo that was already there. While I was shampooing my hair, I
began to read the back of the bottle. I screamed for my parents. My
dad came rushing in and asked what was wrong. I told him that I
accidentally got my hair wet. He then asked me why that was a
problem. I told him that the bottle said that it was "for dry hair
only."
Practice Makes Perfect JoAnn
Hammer, Whittier, CA
I was on my way to Kmart one day with my three kids, ages four,
three and one, in the backseat. It was a particularly windy day, and
we could hear the wind howl as we felt the car shake along the
Eastbound I-10 towards Palm Springs, California. Just as I was about
to find the next exit to turn around and go back home, Jax, my
three-year-old, cried out, "Mommy, I'm scared! Let's go back home!"
My four-year-old, Jhen, took her little sister's hand and comforted
her: "Jax, don't be scared, that's just the wind. God is teaching
the angels to whistle, and wind happens when they're practicing.
They're just not very good at it yet."
A Sighting? Christine Sonnenberg, Blue Springs,
MO
One Sunday we
decided this would be the day we would try our
four-year-old daughter in the "big church" (instead of her
usual Sunday school where she would learn about Jesus,
play and share colorful story books with her friends). In
the past, she had been restless and fidgety. This morning
she was oddly quiet. She seemed to be intrigued with the
priest as he gave his homily and her large eyes watched
his every move. Just before mass ended, she tugged at my
blouse. She had the most perplexed expression that it took
me back a bit. I said, "What is it, honey?" She pointed to
the priest, then looked at me and asked, "Is that God up
there?"
Dog Years Mrs Meriwether, Clarksville, TN
"My dog had puppies,
would you like one?" a little girl asked me as I was leaving church
one Sunday. I replied, "Honey, my husband told me that when our old
dog dies, we aren't getting another one." She said, "Then I guess
you'd better get one before he dies."
Ding-a-Ling Bonnie, Nova Scotia, Canada
I work for a cell phone
company. A lady called up to say her phone was not working and she
couldn't make any calls. I said OK, I will check a few things and
then we will do some troubleshooting. The account looked fine, so I
asked her if she had her phone there. She said Yes. I said, first we
need to verify the SIM number - so I needed her to press #, *, menu,
then 'right arrow.' She said, well if I do that while I'm talking to
you, will I lose you. I said ma'am, what phone are you talking to me
on? She said, the one I'm calling you about. I said, ma'am, if you
called me, your phone must be working. She said, oh yeah, you're
right. I guess its fixed now.
Three Generations of Faith Shanah
Miner, Readsboro, VT
Picture three
generations of women, my mother, myself and my three-year-old
daughter, in the ladies room at the mall - each in separate stalls.
We are talking about God and how He is with us all the time. As my
mother explains that God loves us and he is with us always, my
daughter suddenly gets very quiet. Finally she says, "Nana... is God
in the bathroom RIGHT NOW?"
Remote with a Capital
"R" Joyce, Crawfordville,
FL
When my daughter
Jennifer was three, I told her to go turn the TV off in the bedroom.
Jen just said "No mommy." I told her, "Jen, go turn the TV off, you
don't have to be scared, Jesus will go with you." Jen replied,
"Momma, if Jesus is going, let him turn the TV off."
O2 Invasion
Roger, La Habra, CA
Before I had children I
thought I had heard all the variations of sibling challenges. You
know..."Dad, he's looking at me! or "He's touching me!" And even
after my two boys, ages 9 and 5 at the time, came up with "Daaaad!
He's looking out my window!" I thought I'd heard it all. But, I was
driving to the store one day with the two of them cinched in seat
belts on opposite ends of the back seat with the No Man's Land
of the empty center seat. It was suspiciously quiet for a while,
when suddenly I sensed a rapid movement in the back seat. In the
rear view mirror I spied my older boys' head moving across No Man's
Land towards his brother's side, followed by very rapid, deep and
loud breathing. Within milliseconds my youngest alerts me to his
older brother's felony trespass with, 'Daaaad! He's breathing all my
air!" There are times raising kids when it's really essential that
you bite your tongue so you don't laugh and encourage future
disturbances. That was definitely one of them.
Food Wisdom
Dean,
Mill Creek, WA
My five year old son
has never met a person he didn't want to have a conversation
with...which included the lady in the back row of the church who was
nursing her infant. Out of earshot from me, he began asking her what
she was doing. She politely told him, "I am feeding my baby. Did you
know that mommies make milk for their baby's?" As if clued in to
what she was talking about, he replied, "They make spaghetti, too."
Nobody Does It Better
Shannon, Brockton, MA
My cousin and his father don’t
communicate very well. One day he was in his truck listening to music when
his father comes out to say hello. After a while of trying to talk to him,
his father gives it one last try and asks what he was listening to. My
cousin answers “Nobody.” His father finally gets angry, going on for a few
minutes about how he’s “just trying to have a conversation” and “you don’t
have to be a big wise guy” and so on. After he finally stops ranting, my
cousin looks over at him and says, “Hello?! That’s the name of the band,
Dad, ‘Nobody.’”
Whose Line Is This, Anyway?
Jon, Effingham, IL
The son of a family friend of
ours started kindergarten this past fall. After the first day of school, the
boy somehow managed to get on the wrong school bus. While such an occurrence
might traumatize many of us, this child was completely unfazed. When the bus
driver returned to the bus barn and discovered our friend's son still on the
bus, he asked him, "How come you're still on the bus?" The child replied,
completely calmly, "Because you never stopped at my house." Ask a stupid
question....
Commandment
Sarah, Keyport, NJ
My cousin, Propecia, had just
learned about the Ten Commandments in Sunday School. While shopping with her
friend, Kim, Propecia became concerned with how Kim talked back to her
mother. For example, when Kim’s mother suggested she buy a particular shirt,
Kim said, "Don’t tell me what to do!" Shocked by this behavior, Propecia
scolded Kim, applying her Sunday School lesson, "Thou shalt not commit
ADULTery!"
(Names have been changed to protect
the innocent.)
Manic Mechanics (True
Story and a Must Read!) Ron,
Lancaster, OH
As a business man I was on the
road many weekends during the summer months. My youngest son Ryan was never
very mechanically minded… great athlete… but totally disconnected from how
anything mechanical worked.
I’m in Tennessee, and my wife called to tell me about
the Ryan’s first outing with his buds at a shopping mall.
We bought him a little compact pickup truck… figured he
could only kill one other kid at a time with just two seats in his first
vehicle.
Turns out… he locked the keys in the truck at the local
mall. When he and his buddy came out and discovered the problem… he tried to
call mom… but she was busy helping at the high school (it was prom night)
and didn’t answer her phone.
As they stood there discussing the next step… another
equally mechanically challenged friend spots them… cruises over and says,
“Hey I got one of those pry bar tools that you take the lug nuts off with…
maybe you can pop the door open!”
Somehow…this sounded reasonable to Ryan. So he takes
his turn trying to pop the door open by going 360 degrees around the
door-opening prying back the sheet metal like an old tuna can.
When that failed to open the door the others tried
their hand at it. They later confessed they did discuss the considerable
damage and agreed that it could be “pushed back… and rubbed out… NO
PROBLEM!” However the door was still locked and the keys dangled teasingly
from the steering column.
Scratching their heads… a fourth school chum showed up
and weighed in with, “Hey, over there lays a cement block… why don’t you
just bust out the window?”
Stooge number four’s solution seemed reasonable to the
entire group and so Ryan grabbed the cement block. But as he is about
to pop the window… his jury of peers suggest that he back up so he won’t get
hit by flying glass. So Ryan backed up about ten feet… hurls the cement
block toward the passenger door glass… and misses… hitting the front fender…
caving it in.
The panel of engineering experts appraise the damage
and one of them offers to take over for Ryan. "I can hit that window" he
declares.
He backed up twenty feet and got a run for it. Bearing
down on the helpless GMC he trips with about five feet to go and drives the
block into the side of the bed behind the cab. By this time the vehicle
looks like it was sideswiped by a Semi!
Ryan... near panic seeing the demolished side of his
truck… picks up the block and at point-blank range hurls the block through
the side glass… shattering the glass into the interior. However, in his
excitement he threw it so hard that it careened off the seat (tearing the
upholstery) and bounced into the steering column busting the column wide
open and smashing the keys beyond use.
As the flat bed truck delivered the lil' truck to the
body shop, his mother and I helped him understand the mechanics of working
for our family business the entire summer to pay for the damage.
Sister Pearl Belts Them Out
Submitted by: Karen Vertrees,
Cunningham, TN
When I was about 8
years old living in Birmingham, Alabama, at First
Church of the Nazarene, we
would have a Homecoming every year and in the
afternoon there would be
special singing. I remember one year Sister
Pearl (Dad Speer's sister) was
singing. I was on the front row watching
and listening when all of a
sudden Sister Pearl opened her mouth real
wide to sing a note and her
teeth fell out. She just reached down and
picked them up, put them back
in her mouth and just went on singing like
nothing had ever happened.
One for Mr. Science
Submitted by: Nana,
Sumiton, AL
My
three-year-old grandson wants to know what kind
of batteries are in the
lightening bugs.
Instructions
Submitted by: Mark Wilson,
Murfreesboro, TN
My wife was in her
hospital room the morning after her hysterectomy when the physician
came in with instructions for the near future. I was standing
there, pad in hand, all ears, when he said "...and no relations for
six weeks." Unconsciously I blurted out, "Oh no honey, your mother
is supposed to be here tomorrow!" My wife and the doctor took one
startled look at me, and then burst out laughing.
Not Rated Submitted by:
Debbie Morton, Bucyrus,
OH
I think our 11-year-old
son Jacob is striving to be the next Jeff Allen. About one week into
5th grade, the teacher informed the kids about a homework assignment
on the board. It read "Pg. 13 in Math." Jacob raised his hand and
the teacher called on him. He said, "I can't do the homework
assignment, Teacher." After asking why not, Jacob replied, "My
parents won't allow PG13 in our house." Only Jacob would think of
that! It was his ADHD coming out. The teacher later told us the
whole class was rolling on the floor.
Voice of the Dog Submitted by:
Bobby Morrison, Maryville, MO
Between having kids and a large
dog lot adjoining our new home, there was just no avoiding getting a dog.
So, I purchased a lovely Samoyed, which is a sled dog that is very
family-oriented. Keeping a family dog in a lot away from the family annoyed
the dog, who, in turn, annoyed me by barking at anything and everything at
night. One night I’d had enough and went to our deck to try to quiet the
dog. He dog ignored me. I spoke, he barked. I spoke louder, he barked more
excitedly. But I noticed he was acting as if I was not there and focusing
his attention toward his door. I was furious by this time, it being 2:00
a.m., and I marched to the lot to hush this dog. He continued to bark as I
approached and as I flung his lot door open to really make my point, the
object of his attention made its presence known. A very large, scared and
particularly ugly possum was wedged into the corner of his door opening. I
bravely shooed the animal into the woods and made my way back to bed. I then
made the mistake of telling my wife the whole story. A couple of nights
later my dog started barking again and I yelled through our open window,
"What is wrong with you, what are you barking at now?" My lovely wife, lying
next to me said from under the covers in her best doggy voice, "I'm barking
at a possum."
Misdirected
Compliance Submitted by:
Gene, Salem, OR
One of our neighbor's sons is
three years old and loves to ride his bike in our cul-de-sac. One day his
dad called to him to come in for dinner and to bring in his bike. Later, his
dad was walking in front of our house, half laughing and half shaking his
head in disbelief. When I asked what was going on, he said, "I told Harrison
to get his bike and come into the house for dinner. So he rode his
brother's bike up the street, left it there, and rode his own bike home."