I don't know if you've ever seen the show "Raising Hope," but Jennifer and I got addicted to the first season thanks to Netflix. The show follows the exploits of a young single parent who ... you know, I can't make this sound good. He got a serial killer pregnant and now he's raising their baby. Despite that, the show is pretty funny and often has a good little moral to the story. And hey, Cloris Leachman is in it with the unattractive girl from the Goonies. You can't beat that, right?
One of my favorite stories on the show is where the main character, Jimmy, finds out that his dad would wear a disguise every Halloween in an attempt to scare the boy into running home and giving him a hug. "I’m sorry but when you turned thirteen you barely hugged me anymore and then that ... high five came along. I had to do whatever I could to feel your chest against mine." Jimmy of course felt betrayed, but by the end of the episode his daughter gives him a really tight hug and he understood.
Hugs from your kid are the best.
Evie was up sick last night. She kept crying and crying. For the first time since I don't know when, she clung to me until she fell asleep. I realized how much I love hugs from my kid.
Don't get me wrong, she's a sweetheart who will just walk up and put her arms around my leg to give me a hug, or if I'm angry at a football game while sitting in the floor she comes up and wraps her arms around my neck and mutters something that sounds a little like, "It'll be okay."
As a Jets fan, I expect to get those a lot.
But the fact is, as a parent, there are few rewards in life that are as wonderful as genuine affection from your child.
Burt Chance loved scaring his kid into giving him hugs, but the hugs that were given out of love are much better.
