Like Lucy

It seemed like such an innocent gesture. Recording "Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin" so Josie, Owen, Norm and I could share in the wonderful tradition that I remembered so fondly from my childhood.

Apparently, I didn't remember it so well.

I was shocked that within two minutes of the show, Lucy had called Charlie "Stupid" 10 times. Only a minute later, Charlie, when fighting off the urge to kick the football that we all knew Lucy was going to rip away at the last second said, "You'll pull it away and I'll land flat on my back and kill myself."

Maybe I have been softened by the catchy, educational and upbeat tunes of Dora. Or maybe words like stupid and kill myself take on a whole different meaning when you are worried about your offspring repeating them at an inopportune moment. And even more worried about the inopportune visit by Child Protective Services that might soon follow.

I thought the biggest drawback to letting them watch the show was walking into the room and seeing Josie trying to draw the eyes and mouth of a jack-0-latern on the back of Owen's head.

"What are you doing, Josie?" I yelled grabbing the black permanent marker from her hand.

"Like Lucy, mom. Like she drew on Charlie Brown's head at the party."

"You're just full of great ideas," I told her. But really, I should have been talking to myself. After all, it was my misremembered nostalgia that caused me to record the show in the first place.

Just when I was about to use the parental controls to ban all things Charlie Brown from our television, Josie, once again, put it all in perspective.

She was waiting for her turn to use Norm's iTouch. Norm was taking an especially long time for his turn.

"Can I have it NOW, daddy?"

"A few more minutes, Josie," He said as he sadly tried to figure out why his fantasy football team had failed him so miserably this week.

I watched in true amazement and admiration as the 3 foot nothing daughter stood before her 6 foot 2 father and tell him, "Daddy, give that to me right now or I'm gonna pound you."

Norm and I put our head in our elbows and laughed, and laughed, and laughed and laughed until we both couldn't breathe and tears were rolling down our faces. As inappropriate as it may have been it is a memory we will never forget and a moment that we never would have experienced had it not been for mouthy Lucy Brown and her pathetic brother, Charlie.