The Men Blockers, Marcus and Andrew
Even as toddlers, Andrew and Marcus were so good at arresting any man who made advances to me that they were often compared to professional offensive tacklers! They would stop men dead in their tracks with lines like "You have to go now, my mommy needs to change my diaper." or make me a bottle, or give me a bath; or any number of duties that would scare a man away. And then there was always the outright "hoodlum" behavior- which they reserved for only the toughest of men. For usually they were quite well-behaved children, until they smelled a wolf at the door!
And I guess they saw all men as wolves. :)
On one particular occasion, there was a gentleman named Carl, who was being encouraged by friends to ask me out while I was being encouraged to go out with him. So he and I decided to bite the bullet and see why our friends
were so insistent that we date. He had been warned of my two young ones, but advised me that he was very good with kids and knew just what to do. The plan was to take them to McDonalds, buy them a Happy Meal, and then let them wear themselves out at the indoor playground there. Then we would take them for a short lullaby ride in my Cadillac, during which time the boys were sure to fall soundly asleep. After that Carl figured we could go to the Drive-In Theatre and take in a movie there; while letting the boys just sleep in the car. Perfect, I thought! Seemed like Carl had kid psychology down to a science. And I was excited that I might actually see a movie too!!!
Everything went like clock work. - Until the part where the boys were supposed to fall asleep during the scenic drive!
Somehow, their antennas were up; and tired as they were, they were NOT going to sleep. We rode around so long that we missed the first showing at the Drive-In totally! So at time of second showing, Carl and I changed plans and thought that since it was dark now, we could go to the Drive-In, park the car and let the boys play in the cab of the Seville, while we sat on the hood, watching the movie. Eventually they would just have to fall asleep; they hadn't taken a nap all day! So we placed a blanket over the front windshield and proceeded to try Plan B.
The second movie had already started, but Carl was confident that he could outsmart two toddlers; and I was willing to let him try.
The second movie had already started, but Carl was confident that he could outsmart two toddlers; and I was willing to let him try.
However, within three minutes of us sitting on the hood, the Cadillac started rocking as if it was about to be swept up in a tornado!
So we got off the hood, opened the passenger doors, and looked inside.
I was exasperated!
"For goodness sakes! What are you doing?"
I demanded to know.
-There was Andrew, sitting with his happy meal toy, staring straight ahead and frozen as if he hadn't moved a muscle in the last two minutes.
And there was Marcus, holding a Spanish-English paperback dictionary; open, in his hands.
Calm as a cucumber, Marcus replies, "Reading, mommy."
I lost it.
Marcus was about four; and smart as he was, both Carl and I knew he was NOT capable of reading a Spanish-English dictionary.
Besides that, bless his little heart, he was holding the paperback in his hands UPSIDE DOWN!
I was exasperated!
"For goodness sakes! What are you doing?"
I demanded to know.
-There was Andrew, sitting with his happy meal toy, staring straight ahead and frozen as if he hadn't moved a muscle in the last two minutes.
And there was Marcus, holding a Spanish-English paperback dictionary; open, in his hands.
Calm as a cucumber, Marcus replies, "Reading, mommy."
I lost it.
Marcus was about four; and smart as he was, both Carl and I knew he was NOT capable of reading a Spanish-English dictionary.
Besides that, bless his little heart, he was holding the paperback in his hands UPSIDE DOWN!
I just cracked up, and Carl started laughing too. "Barbara," he said, as he shook his head in disbelief, "Let me take you home."
And that is how the 'date' ended.
Carl and I remained good friends. And we were officially off the hook within our social circle, because we could honestly say we had tried to date.
And like everybody else, Carl liked Glenn too when he came into our world.
Glenn was the only man my sons allowed to sit on our couch for more than 5 minutes! This was the biggest factor in me ever agreeing to date Glenn.
Short time after Glenn and I were married, Carl fell sick with a fatal brain tumor and sold us his 1959 Chevy truck that had only been driven by himself and his father before him. Carl knew how much I loved that truck; so he sold it to us below it's value. It meant a lot to me.
On October 3rd, 2009, while helping Glenn pack things up, I held the title to our '59 truck in my hand while asking Glenn if I could have it. But Glenn told me he had already sold it. Guess he'd gotten a duplicate title. Somehow, without any consideration toward me; Glenn had just went ahead and sold it.