I am turning into my dad

[Big Owl]

My 13yr daughter wanted distressed jeans that on sale were $90. I tell her that I will give her $20 and if she wanted those pants, she would have to come up with the rest.

That weekend she spends the night with my parents. My mom buys her the pants but doesn’t say anything to my dad. I go to pick her up, I see the pants, and I ask “so you got the $90 pants?”. My dad just hears $90 pants. He assumes I bought the pants and explains that he buys his pants from a discount department store. He said he never pays more than $20 for them he wears them and figures he gets 100 wearing’s out of them so $0.20 per wearing.

He then tells me that if he were me he wouldn’t give “his” child more than $20 for a pair of jeans and he says well, there’s a sucker born every minute. I decided to let it go, knowing that it would only be sweeter with age.

Unknown to me at the time, my daughter made my parents thank you cards for giving her the $90 so that she would be able to buy the $90 pants and letting her keep the $20 her dad gave her, as her dad is a tightwad. Evidently, my mom showed it to them after we left as when I get home I have the following message “son, I admire your restraint as I just found out I am the sucker that bought $90 pants. This crow taste nothing like chicken. Later, Dad.”

[ofos]

My 13yr daughter wanted distressed jeans that on sale were $90. I tell her that I will give her $20 and if she wanted those pants, she would have to come up with the rest.

That weekend she spends the night with my parents. My mom buys her the pants but doesn’t say anything to my dad. I go to pick her up, I see the pants, and I ask “so you got the $90 pants?”. My dad just hears $90 pants. He assumes I bought the pants and explains that he buys his pants from a discount department store. He said he never pays more than $20 for them he wears them and figures he gets 100 wearing’s out of them so $0.20 per wearing.

He then tells me that if he were me he wouldn’t give “his” child more than $20 for a pair of jeans and he says well, there’s a sucker born every minute. I decided to let it go, knowing that it would only be sweeter with age.

Unknown to me at the time, my daughter made my parents thank you cards for giving her the $90 so that she would be able to buy the $90 pants and letting her keep the $20 her dad gave her, as her dad is a tightwad. Evidently, my mom showed it to them after we left as when I get home I have the following message “son, I admire your restraint as I just found out I am the sucker that bought $90 pants. This crow taste nothing like chicken. Later, Dad.”

I love it! ROTFL

[ursus]

It is a great story, Big Owl. You can do worse than become your dad!

[Maister]

Great story Owl!

I recently started turning into my dad when I see Junior pulling the same sh** I did when I was a kid. Talking about the games at bedtime where you come up with every excuse imaginable to be out of bed after lights out (that or delaying lights out). I never understood why dad got Sooooo frustrated with me and why it was soooo important to him that I go to bed when I had to. Now I understand.....

split from RTDNTOTO8

[ofos]

Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back, Kotter) had a comedy routine where he'd say "Oahhhhh…That’s the Sound My Father Makes". If you've lived long enough, you'll have heard yourself making those sounds too.

[Big Owl]

With the exception of the comb over, I am okay becoming my father. It is neat seeing my kids take after me. The $90 pants had worn, thread bare holes in them. My oldest daughter caught the leg of her pants on something at school and ripped a small hole in them. She was upset and my youngest daughter tried to console her with "wow, you got a hole that you didn't have to pay for".

[wahday]

Wow! That is a great story and a very enterprising daughter...

My brother and I are often critiquing each other's dad-like foibles. Of course, he did a lot of things right, so the comparisons are not always a sign of repeating the great mistakes of the past. Mostly what I cringe at are the little annoyances that have nothing to do with the measure of a man (or woman, though we are talking about dads). My father had a perpetual tic that manifested itself as incessant throat clearing. It got progressively worse as he aged, but there are times when I hear myself doing the same thing. I don't know if it is physiological or anxiety or what, but when I hear myself or my brother doing it, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

Other things my father did which I find myself doing:

When a child asks the definition of a word I tell them to go look it up in the dictionary (after which they promptly reach for some electronic device)
When a child asks "what does XX mean?" I launch into a lecture that touches on socio-economic, biological and historical aspects for something that really only required a three word response.

As a father now, I see the importance of these kinds of things. I also remember postponing bedtime or lights out to the great frustration of my parents. Now I am the same way. The great circle of life.