Captain Eo

Last week was Spring Break and, being the good parents that we are, we took the kids to Disneyland.  It was really for Calvin's Golden Birthday (I'll explain that later).

Oh...yeah about that last post...I accidentally highlighted a few sentences and then was unable to un-highlight them.  So I brilliantly decided to change the color of the highlight to white.  Perfect solution, right?   Not so perfect.  Sorry.  I'm new.

Back to Disneyland.  While we were there we took in the Captain Eo show which is, you know, Captain Eo.  Nobody really said much about it until later that day when I said to Calvin and Mr Smarty Pants, "Let me tell you a secret about dad.  Twenty years ago, he was Captain Eo." 

I don't  know why I told them that.  We were waiting for Captain Eo Dad and my daughter Darla to return from getting fast passes for something and it was getting boring.  Well, Calvin who is 10 immediately shot me a gimme a break kind of look.  His brother, Mr Smarty Pants could just as easily be Mr I'll Believe Anything You Say As Long As  It's Unbelievable Pants, however.  He looked at me with those big blue eyes filled with amazement.  "Really?  Dad is Captain Eo?  Oh man, I can't believe it!"  He believed it.  Calivn kindly looked away.

Several times throughout the day he made reference to Dad and Captain Eo.  Now Mr Smarty Pants really is a smart kid, but he will believe ANYTHING!   Occassionally I feel guilty about teasing him like this because one day he'll be really embarrassed by it and then I'll be in trouble.  But not yet.  I hope.

So the next day Mr Smarty Pants and I were again waiting for Dad and Darla to get fast passes.  This time Calvin went with them.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 were there, too, in their strollers eating smarties or sleeping.  We just happened to be outside Space Mountain, which is right next to the Captain Eo theater.  MSP noticed a poster advertising the show and read that it starred Michael Jackson.  "Mom!"  Oh no, here it comes.  "This says....is... is dad Michael Jackson?"  

Have you ever noticed how hard it is not to laugh when every fiber of your being is screaming for laughter?  I did not laugh.  I felt nothing but remorse for teasing my poor little boy who believes everything I tell him.  Who else can he believe, if not his mother?  Certainly not his father, he's worse than I am!  But, I felt like I had let him down.  So I told him very gently, "No.  Dad's not Michael Jackson."  "But that sign says Michael Jackson is Captain Eo.  Were you just kidding?" "Yeah, I was just kidding."  "Oh, mom!"  but his cute happy smile was there the whole time.  Whew!

And then to top it all off he hatched a plan of his own.  "Let's not tell Darla and Calvin that Dad's not really Captain Eo!"  so excited to be pulling the wool over someone else's eyes for a change. 

What a sweet Smarty Pants!