Christmas in El Cerrito

Seemed like the closer we got to Christmas, the kid kept getting more jacked up, and I became increasingly desperate to find low key activities to bring him down.

Now we have this beautiful antique carousel up in the hills in Tilden Park, and it was the morning of the 22nd, I took him up there thinking that would maybe have a little bit of a calming influence on him, but guess what. It was closed. Till 5:30 that night. And they were going to have some special Christmas at the Carousel event going on. With Santa and everything.

So I told the kid, "OK, you behave today and after dinner I'll take you up to the carousel."

So, well, he got through the day without running into the street or committing an assault or using any HBO language, which I guess is pretty good for that age, and that night I take him to the carousel.

Well, it was packed! I damn near hit a deer pulling into the last legal parking space. And I thought to myself "Oh Lord, what am I getting into? The kid is going to be going wild!"

But no. He was an angel. Well, except when he went up to see Santa, the first thing he said was "You got nipples?"

Santa was a pretty good sport about it.

Kurt "big daddy" True
25 december 2007