This post has absolutely nothing to do with triathlon, running, biking, swimming or anything remotely athletic. It has to do with an event that occurred about a week ago at my house that I have to write about.
This year we didn't have Thanksgiving at our house, so in typical Thanksgiving fashion, my wife cooked up a turkey the weekend after the holiday so that we could have turkey sandwiches, basically still have "leftovers". As I was carving up our bird I came across the wishbone, cleaned it off and placed it on the window sill so that it would dry off. I'm not sure how many people do this, but in my house growing up, we always kept the wishbone from the turkey and then once it was dried out enough, my father would have my sister and I each make a wish, a wish that we could tell no one about lest it never come true, then he would have us each grab one end of the wish bone. Finally he would have us pull and break the bone in half (or in some cases it would just shatter if it were too dry). The person with the bigger piece would have their wish granted. After years of doing this I found out that the higher you grab up on your side of the bone, the better chance you would have of winner and thus having your wish come true.
Back to the present....so a few days past and it came time for me to pass this tradition on to my girls. So I explained to my girls how it worked and that no matter what they couldn't tell anyone what there wish was or it wouldn't come true. For about an hour before my wife came home I kept asking them what their wish would be if they won, playing with them in attempt to get them to tell me what their wish was. They were tough to crack and held tight to what their wish was going to be.
At last my wife arrived home from a tough day of work and it was time to have our contest. So each girl grabbed a side of the wishbone and pulled. The battle didn't last long, in fact it was over in only a second or two. My four-year old came out victorious and my six-year old walked away sad and dejected, sobbing about how her wish wouldn't come true. I asked her what her wish was, since she lost it didn't matter if she told me or not. She said that she wished that she could have one of Santa Claus's flying reindeer's. Wow, thank God she didn't win, that would have been an extremely tough wish to fulfill. There really wasn't anything that I could say or do to make her feel better.
It was then that my youngest daughter began to look sad. I asked her what was wrong and she gave no answer, she just sulked. Then my wife asked the same question, this time my daughter said with very sad and pouty lips, "I want to tell someone my wish, but then it won't come true." My wife and I then explained that it would be OK if she told us her wish, that it still might come true. She then told us her wish, "I wish that [my sister] would not be mean to me." My wife and I were dumbfounded. Here was out little four year old daughter who could have wished for anything...a pet kitten or heck a unicorn ora 4' tall Barbie or a giant bowl of cookie dough ice cream. But no, all she wanted was for her older sister to be nice to her. That of everything in the world, that was the greatest thing she could wish for.
Of course we then tried to tell her that her big sister is a great sister and that she isn't mean to her; she refused to believe us and she was still sad. We talked to our oldest daughter and tried to explain to her how much her little sister looks up to her and wants to emulate everything that she does. It went in one ear and out the other. We did our best to try and explain to them both how great it is to have a sister and how they will be the best of friends as they get older (at least we hope they are), but I don't think it worked.
So ended the night of the wishbone. To this day, two weeks later, they still fight as usual and our little one still pleads for her big sister to be nice to her. I guess we learned a very valuable lesson since the night fateful night. That being if you make a wish on a wishbone, you should never, ever tell anyone what you wished for or it won't come true. Or at least that is how my wife and I are interpreting it. ;)
I'll write more tomorrow....very cold and windy outside...should make for perfect running weather tomorrow....or a good day to put an hour in on the trainer. Adios!
This year we didn't have Thanksgiving at our house, so in typical Thanksgiving fashion, my wife cooked up a turkey the weekend after the holiday so that we could have turkey sandwiches, basically still have "leftovers". As I was carving up our bird I came across the wishbone, cleaned it off and placed it on the window sill so that it would dry off. I'm not sure how many people do this, but in my house growing up, we always kept the wishbone from the turkey and then once it was dried out enough, my father would have my sister and I each make a wish, a wish that we could tell no one about lest it never come true, then he would have us each grab one end of the wish bone. Finally he would have us pull and break the bone in half (or in some cases it would just shatter if it were too dry). The person with the bigger piece would have their wish granted. After years of doing this I found out that the higher you grab up on your side of the bone, the better chance you would have of winner and thus having your wish come true.
Back to the present....so a few days past and it came time for me to pass this tradition on to my girls. So I explained to my girls how it worked and that no matter what they couldn't tell anyone what there wish was or it wouldn't come true. For about an hour before my wife came home I kept asking them what their wish would be if they won, playing with them in attempt to get them to tell me what their wish was. They were tough to crack and held tight to what their wish was going to be.
At last my wife arrived home from a tough day of work and it was time to have our contest. So each girl grabbed a side of the wishbone and pulled. The battle didn't last long, in fact it was over in only a second or two. My four-year old came out victorious and my six-year old walked away sad and dejected, sobbing about how her wish wouldn't come true. I asked her what her wish was, since she lost it didn't matter if she told me or not. She said that she wished that she could have one of Santa Claus's flying reindeer's. Wow, thank God she didn't win, that would have been an extremely tough wish to fulfill. There really wasn't anything that I could say or do to make her feel better.
It was then that my youngest daughter began to look sad. I asked her what was wrong and she gave no answer, she just sulked. Then my wife asked the same question, this time my daughter said with very sad and pouty lips, "I want to tell someone my wish, but then it won't come true." My wife and I then explained that it would be OK if she told us her wish, that it still might come true. She then told us her wish, "I wish that [my sister] would not be mean to me." My wife and I were dumbfounded. Here was out little four year old daughter who could have wished for anything...a pet kitten or heck a unicorn ora 4' tall Barbie or a giant bowl of cookie dough ice cream. But no, all she wanted was for her older sister to be nice to her. That of everything in the world, that was the greatest thing she could wish for.
Of course we then tried to tell her that her big sister is a great sister and that she isn't mean to her; she refused to believe us and she was still sad. We talked to our oldest daughter and tried to explain to her how much her little sister looks up to her and wants to emulate everything that she does. It went in one ear and out the other. We did our best to try and explain to them both how great it is to have a sister and how they will be the best of friends as they get older (at least we hope they are), but I don't think it worked.
So ended the night of the wishbone. To this day, two weeks later, they still fight as usual and our little one still pleads for her big sister to be nice to her. I guess we learned a very valuable lesson since the night fateful night. That being if you make a wish on a wishbone, you should never, ever tell anyone what you wished for or it won't come true. Or at least that is how my wife and I are interpreting it. ;)
I'll write more tomorrow....very cold and windy outside...should make for perfect running weather tomorrow....or a good day to put an hour in on the trainer. Adios!
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