If You're This, Then You Do That

My dad came over to visit on Sunday.  He got to our house late afternoon, stayed for dinner, read Cal a couple of books and put him to bed and, in general, enjoyed some quality time with some Leathermans during and after all of that.

Cal's "A Beautiful Day" drawing (11/18/12)

The kids were pretty excited about Grandpa’s visit.  It gave them a good reason to be on their good (tolerable) behavior (which they do for everyone but Dan and me) and to show off some of the new things they’d been doing, like drawing and the “sweetie tackle” game (fka “soft tackle”).  Cal showed Grandpa some of the pictures he’d drawn over the course of the weekend and drew a new one for Grandpa to take home with him.  He also tried to incite Ella into a game of “sweetie tackle,” to which Dan and I were amenable, so much so that we helped him set up a safe “sweetie tackle” zone, complete with mats, giant lion and giant giraffe to soften the falls.  Here’s how Cal first approached getting Ella to play “sweetie tackle” with him:

Cal <in his nicest, sweetest tone>: “Ella… Ella… do you want to play sweetie tackle with me?”

Ella <short and un-sweet>: “Nyo.”

Cal <as if he was asking for the first time>: “Ella… Ella… do you want to play sweetie tackle with me?”

Ella: “Nyo.”

And then they turned their attention to something else, I can’t recall exactly what. But Cal wasn’t about to give up on the game.  He soon declared from out of nowhere and loudly for all to hear:

“If you’re little and you have a Bears shirt on, you have to play this game with me.”

I don’t know that Ella actually realized that she fit that description, but she ended up playing one round of “sweetie tackle” with Cal.

Meanwhile, I was thinking about what Cal had said.  Where does he get this material? I automatically think about the movies he seen. What movie could this be from?  Is this something he learned at school?  It was certainly a creative angle.  And then he did it again.  This time, it was Grandpa he was looking to engage in some activity.  We had just finished dinner.  I don’t recall what it was he was looking for Grandpa to do, but this is what he said, smirking and looking at my dad out of the corner of his eyes as he said it:

“If you’re big and have a Grandpa-sized head and have gray hair, you have to try this with me.”

Like with Ella, what it was he was looking to try with my dad, I don’t recall.  But we all knew who fit that description and laughed pretty heartily at what Cal had said.