This past Sunday, I found a ping-pong ball machine in our community center. On a whim, I forked over $0.50 for two balls. I grabbed a Sharpie marker and drew a face on each ball – one boy and one girl. Then I chased down my kids and gave them each a ball.
You would have thought I gave my kids an expensive toy or something. They played with them all day.
After a minutes my daughter tugged my sleave, “Daddy, can I have a quarter?”
“Why do you need a quarter?”
She looked up at me. ”I want to make you a ball?”
I handed her the quarter and a Sharpie. A few minutes later she brought me a ball with a face. Even better were the words written in a shaky six-year-old hand, “I love you, Daddy.”
I carry that ball with me now, even in Finland. Traveling is often a lonely business and I carry small things with me to remind me of my family’s love. They also make great conversation starters.
What do you carry with you as you travel?
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Why I carry balloons (the long skinny “entertainer” kind). I don’t think of it ahead of time as often as I should, but when I expect to be somewhere that kids are stuck waiting around with their parents (for doctor’s appointments, hair cuts, car repairs, airport travel, etc.) I try to have a balloons in a pocket. The smiles elicited by a small poodle, teddy bear, or flower are to die for — usually coming from the parents as well as the kids.
Fun to brighten someone’s day unexpectedly