Saturday, February 02, 2008

Groundhog Beginning

My eyes slowly opened to the morning light. No alarms, no loud noises. Just a gentle awakening that I’d not experienced in months. Usually I’m reaching for my cell phone alarm or hearing the whispers of my kids waking me at the crack of down. But on this Saturday morning, at roughly 8:00, I awoke simply because I was ready to wake up. I savored the silence and had one thought. “What are the kids up to?”

I soon had my answer as I heard whispering in the hallway. My wife had also just awoken and we both decided to play possum to see what the kids’ plans were. I heard whispers and tiptoeing on the carpet. Finally a soft counting of, “one, two, three….” The chord from a harmonica screeched somewhat quietly, followed by a rousing chorus of “Happy Groundhog Day to You!”

I opened my eyes as the two tikes smiled and swayed as they sang their song. Before I could applaud, they started the next phase of their presentation. Walking to my wife’s side of the bed, my son proclaimed, “In recognition of Groundhog day, I proclaim you as the Groundhog Queen” as he placed a paper crown upon her head. Rather than jewels adorning the tiara, smiling ground hog faces circled my wife’s head. Her face was beaming with pride.

My daughter then presented me with a card. The front was written in blue crayon: “It is growhog day. Wod you like to play?” Inside, the choice was “Yes or No” Of course, I responded with a resounding yes. My son then asked me if I thought the groundhog would see his shadow today? Judging from the sunlight streaming through the blinds, I told him he would He seemed to be thrilled with the answer.

The day has since proceeded as any other Saturday…with a nice cooked (not nuked) breakfast and plenty of Saturday morning cartoons. I’m sure we’ll run our errands later on and take care of some household chores. But today, I’ll make an extra effort to play, and my wife will still be wearing groundhogs on her head.

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