After spending the day with my parents, my kids came home with two American Flags.
I asked, “where are ya’ll going to put them?”
“In the front yard," my son announced.
So out they went to strategically place their flags to show their patriotism.
I got such a kick out of seeing those flags.
Every day the flags would be in a different place in the yard.
Then one day we only had one flag left! My daughter cried because my son told her someone stole her flag.
So now, my son roamed the yard in search of a new spot for HIS flag.
Since his sisters apparently was stolen, it had to be the perfect spot.
The final resting place for this solo flag was wedged in a hole in the tree.
For me the fun was over because there was only one flag left and it flew proudly attached to the tree.
There wasn’t any guess work anymore of where the flag would be placed in the yard.
Isn’t it funny how the simple things in life amuse you after you have children?
One day after work, I heard some commotion coming from the front yard and went to the door.
It was a squirrel in the tree fighting with the stick of the flag, trying to free the flag from the hole.
Trying to protect the only flag we had left, I walked out there and yelled at the squirrel.
The squirrel started yelling back at me and he looked like he was going to jump on me.
So I backed away, never taking my eyes off him and went back in the house to see what was going to unfold.
I had never been attacked by a squirrel before and didn’t want this to be the first.
What would I tell the medics in the emergency room? “Well, I was attacked by a patriotic squirrel!”
I stood at the front door watching this squirrel fighting with this flag in disbelief.
He finally got the flag free and began stuffing the flag in his mouth.
Now, with the confrontation resolved and me back in the house, I began to laugh hysterically.
The squirrel was on a mission, to say the least.
Once he had stuffed the whole flag in his mouth, down the tree he stumbled.
He didn’t take into consideration the 12” stick that was attached to the flag.
So down the sidewalk he awkwardly ran with the stick between his legs dragging the ground.
We never saw that American flag again.
Now, I know where the other flag went!
When I picked my kids up from school, I told them the story about the American Flag thieving squirrel.
One of them asked, “what is he going to do with our flag?”
I said “maybe he needed a comforter for his bed or some wallpaper to spruce up his home, or maybe his wife saw it and just had to have THAT one.”
We all laughed at the thought I conjured up on the spur of the moment.
Being a parent you have to come up with some kind of answer, for your kids, in a split second.
