At least he'll take after his father...

Not to lay any more of a guilt trip than you're already on, but MAN, I've missed you!

Thanks!

I don't know how the hell I found your blog, but this entry made me laugh so hard I cried.

Both of my children's skulls bear dents from my having thumped them into doorframes or other such obstacles.

Ha! That reminds me when I traveled with my son to show him off to my mother, proud daddy that I was. Son was maybe 6 months at the time. I raised him up for all to see and I heard *thump*thump*thump*. I had stuck his head in the ceiling fan. My first thought, though, was, "That can't be my son. My son doesn't make that noise."

Tony,
Fortunately, (for you) your wife was not present at the time...though how did you explain the marks?

If he wasn't crying, I would guess he wasn't getting whacked too hard. In which case, he probably just thought it was a new game.

"Still, a good reminder that even when we think we are something special, the odds are against it."

A revelation that only comes with age...

But thank heaven the human head probably *is* only slightly less dense than iridium. Otherwise how would babies live to adulthood faculties intact, given the head-twacking (always by fathers, of course ;) that seems to be a fact of life...

Cute anecdote.

I'm with Jordana - what kid doesn't like getting whacked on top of the head a few times? ;)

"Yes?" I ask this in the terse-yet-polite voice I reserve for people I am not allowed to openly despise."

So true.

I share in everyone's excitement that you are still alive . . .

I sent you a few emails but heard no response. What has become of the Internet when people who are perfect strangers for all intents and puposes don't return your email because they are busy taking care of their family?!? . . .

Anyway, as the father of a 14 month old daughter I can always use these type of reminders.

I had a little bout of angina when I saw that your site had been updated! :)

Perfectly quaint entry that I enjoyed enough to read twice.

In the back of "Fretful Mother" magazine, you can find charming safety helmets for your tots.

If he were my son, I'd be more worried about the valuable equipment I was hitting that solid object (his head) against. He takes after me.

The male skull is the densest material known to man; at least, that's what women seem to think.

(PS - "Fretful Mother" magazine: ROFLROFLROFL!!! *SO* true. My wife is a lifetime subscriber.)

I've nearly poked out my kid's eye, from brushing his teeth too vigorously. Homo sensitivens, no matter how far he evolves, just doesn't have that mother's touch.

Okay...great story...as a father of five, I can truly relate...

...but TWO MONTHS and not a word? We haved missed you!!!

Nice to have you back, sir.

Missed you...where have you been, we need details, I am sure a few stories are in there.
Angela

I've never understood how to do trackbacks, but here's some stuff on my blog about The Incident:

http://thehappyhusband.com/?p=669

Look, either we do it, or the school bullies will.

Is this why people always duck when getting into helicopters?

Great story!

"It is the voice of a librarian, a schoolteacher, a junior senator from New York, or some other such female-type killjoy."

When I watch daddies supervising the kids, I do wonder how they (the kids) survive. Like the way they put the toddler down in the parking lot to wander around while unstrapping the infant from the car seat; or letting the wee ones run loose in the coffee shop where busy people are walking around with hot coffee. Yes, it does make me speak in my librarian voice.

I and mine were seriously concerned that something awful had happened in the Woodlief household, but I am happy to note that it seems naught but a good skull-thumping. :) Little boys are tough! As an elementary school student, my father once knocked himself cold, pretending to be a bull charging at a matador and running full-tilt into a brick wall. And he still managed to graduate with honors, so there you go.

Norma, they picked up those behaviors by imitating a female. Seriously. Watch baby-whelpers in coffee shops or supermarket parking lots sometime, you'll see plenty of 'em who pay more mind to their cell phone/purse/shopping cart than their brood -- a majority, I'd say.

Not only do children imitate authority figures, e.g., "librarian, a schoolteacher, a junior senator from New York, or some other such female-type killjoy", adults -- of all sexes! -- do too. And females stereotypically insist on being the authorities on anything to do with children.

This was great! I'm sure your little one was fine...just maybe a bit curious as to why you were doing it.