Cute kid stories: June 2007 Archives

We spent last weekend visiting two of my husband's sisters in New Jersey. One lives just outside Atlantic City, and one lives in North Wildwood.

Needless to say, we spent the weekend at the beach. We also went to the Rainforest Cafe in Atlantic City, which was just pretty darn cool. Sam has a few lengthy conversations with a baby elephant statue-type thing that moved and snorted every 10 minutes or so.

The best part, though, came Sunday when we came back from the beach. We were having a belated Father's Day party for my father-in law, so there were about 25 people there. Since we weren't staying, Sam and I just rinsed off in the outdoor shower attached to the house.

I stripped Sam's suit off, hosed her off, then wrapped her in a towel and stood her on the sidewalk leading around the house. "Stay here for just a minute while I get changed," I told her.

I climbed back in the wooden shower stall and was washing off my legs when I said, "So Sam, did you have fun at the beach today?"

Silence.

Me: "Sam? Did you have fun today?"

Silence.

Then I heard one of my sisters-in-law start cackling from the rear deck -- exactly where Sam would end up if she were to wander off.

I threw my clothes on and darted around the house to the deck. I found a cluster of adults smirking and chuckling.

Me: "What's my kid doing now?"

Cookie (my cackling sister-in-law): "Just watch Sam. Look, over there."

My dear, sweet, buck-naked little child was walking up to people, getting their attention, and then flashing them for all she was worth -- arms spread wide, towel flung out, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

I snagged her, wrapping the towel around her, and told the last person she had flashed: "Just so you know, these are my husband's genes at work right here."

Speaking of my husband, he said he started having horrible flashes of Sam, age 18, in "Girls Gone Wild" videos.

What's the craziest thing your kids have done lately?

We went to a graduation party for my niece-in-law this past weekend, and my daughter, being the social butterfly she is, was the first and sole dancer shaking her bootie for almost 10 minutes.

She finally recruited a couple of her little cousins, who are about her age, and then a group of soon-to-be-college-age girls joined them, surprising most of us with line dances to 15-year-old songs that I swear didn't have line dances to them when I was in high school.

Anyway, Sam was entertaining herself by whizzing around the dance floor, clapping her hands, stomping her feet and wiggling her flexible little body. I handed off the duty of watching her to my husband, who was stationed beside the dance floor chatting up one of his nephews.

Later, as I was chatting up that nephew, I discovered our Miss Sammy wasn't just dancing. Michael (the nephew) joked to my husband that he seemed to have jumped in on an awkward situation at just the right time:

Michael: "It looked like you broke up a game of Gynecologist over there at one point."

Damon: "Yeah, I saw that and just tried to get them off the floor and dancing again."

Apparently, Sam's cousin Hailey, who's 4, was laying on the dance floor, legs splayed, and Sam was standing between her legs. Now, I'm betting this was just an easy way to show off some really cool new princess underwear or something, but I'm sure it looked horrendous.

So far, Sam's been pretty good about not doing or announcing embarrassing things in public or at family get-togethers, but I can just feel the tide turning somehow.

What's the most embarrassing thing your kid has said or done lately?