[dc]P[/dc]lenty of folks think Stephanie is the saner of the two of us. 93.3% of the time, this is true. Stephanie puts up with my special kind of crazy with a smile and a shake of her head, and bless her for it.
But that remaining 7% 6.7% of the time, look out.
Such a scenario played out in public last weekend. Stephanie and I were shopping for her niece’s second birthday present, and after she shot down my (practical) suggestion of a shoe repair kit, we looked for toys at Schuler Books & Music (a great place for gifts in general, not just birthday presents).
I’m all for reasonably priced, practical gifts, for Christmas/Valentine’s Day/Mother’s Day/Snowman Melting Day/birthday presents, like the time I gave Stephanie a new cutting board. But, things really went off the birthday present shopping rails when Stephanie found the hand puppets, and proceeded to try them out, with voices.
Put your hand inside me. Image via Amazon.
To be fair, I’m a fan of puppets too, and most of the time I would have either a) joined in or b) started such a performance myself. That afternoon, however, the overcast weather zapped all my energy,¹ and left me as animated as a snail in wet cement.
Stephanie grinned, and pulled an alpaca puppet off the rack. It was a full body alpaca puppet with a movable mouth. Stephanie giggled as she worked the mouth.
“Hi Dan! I’m Allie the Alpaca!” she made no attempt to whisper in the crowded store. I squeezed Allie’s mouth shut, hoping Stephanie would take the hint.
Nope.
