"The Great Rookholio" OR "4 Year Old Magic"

I would like to introduce to you "The Great Rookholio." After consuming great quantities of stimulants [e.g. his breakfast serving of caffeine via his mother's half consumed, flat, watered down diet Coke from Bucky's (the gas station) from the night before; a breakfast serving of sugar cookies from Wal-mart (sometimes with the pre-configured pink or light blue slab of frosting slapped on top); or a serving of white sugary goodness from some other meal], he enters a hyperactive phase/rage, with symptoms such as non-sensical jabbering, convulsions, and glaring cross-eyed at the sky, his fist, or other despised object.
Sometimes he plays soccer, too, as seen below.

The next picture is of Cannon telling his teammate how his Dad taught him some "magic." Magic like "pull-my-finger-and-see-what-happens" magic.

"Hey, Gavin. Check out this trick my dad taught me. Pull my finger!"


See, a few years ago I received some advice from a wise man (it may have been my own dad) who told me this golden nugget:

"Wait until your kids are 4 years old before you get them to 'pull-your-finger' for the first time. This way they get to enjoy the complete magical effect because they are finally old enough to understand the connection between the finger-pulling-action and the source of the sound, but still young enough to believe that it is real." Well guess what. Cannon is four.

Recently I decided "it was time." So one evening at the dinner table and at an opportune time, I decided to reveal the magical moment.

I pointed my finger at Cannon and said the magical words that will stay with me forever. "Son, pull my finger."

Thank goodness I was able to perform with perfect timing. The look on Cannon's face was priceless. He was amazed. In fact he inspected my hand to make sure I didn’t have anything in it. When he couldn't find anything he said, "Dad your finger is magic! Do it again!"

Because I didn't want to overwhelm him (and the magic is limited), I was forced to say, "Sorry son. The magic has worn off for now. Maybe tomorrow."

These are truly the moments that make having sons so wonderful.