"You Left The Baby's Sippy Cup At The Bar"

Okay - that is not a line you hear in daily conversation yet it is one I heard Sunday morning.

Rewind to Saturday.

I had to go to Mattydale, NY for an important function for the US Army. This was a change of command ceremony which means a day with a lot of dignitaries, high ranking officers, and family members. Because I have already drilled with the unit for the month of March, and because I did not need to be there all day, and because I was spending time with my family, I convinced Lisa to come to the event with TJ and Sam so that afterwards we could split out to the Carousel Mall.

The day went as planned. TJ was a hit with everyone. He was well behaved, smiled a lot, and was quiet through the event. Sam was a rock star, politely answering questions from my boss and my boss's boss.

At lunch time we went to the local VFW for a full on reception of turkey, ham, and all of the sides. The VFW is everything you'd imagine inside the main room, lots of red, white, and blue on old paneling with lots of pictures of old men who were once brave Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen. (Of course the women at the VFW came out of the kitchen to see/hold/squeeze the baby). As we left it was mentioned that their would be a reception after the business day that would include cocktails. Again at the VFW.

The impolite thing to do would have been to go to the mall (already packed with people from the St. Patrick's Day Parade) and then go home. Instead we did the right thing and returned to the VFW.

We pulled into the parking lot at 4:00ish and decided that we'd stay for about 45 minutes. This reception was in the bar - not the meeting hall. The VFW bar is everything you'd imagine too; cheap beer, 365 Christmas lights, curmudgeons, and more "Support the Troops" stickers than Soldiers in last year's "Surge". I had a beer and made it last. Lisa too had a beer and made it last. There were friends there to catch up with, including a long lost college ROTC buddy, as well as new friends, and of course my Soldiers. Again, TJ was great, Sam was a rock star and the 45 minutes disappeared in a flash.

At 4:45 we decided to stay a little longer. Lisa got another beer and the VFW women - now at the bar - continued to faun over the baby. An hour after that we pulled ourselves away from the conversations, the electronic gambling machine (a whole other entry), and the people and drove home.

When we got home Lisa told me that we'd left TJ's cup behind and told me to pick it up the next day.

Sunday morning I entered the Reserve Center and it was as if everyone lined up to tell me that we'd left the cup at the bar. But that wasn't the best. No. The best part of the day was when I went to lunch with my new boss and her boss to the local diner. There in the diner was one of the VFW women. You guessed it, in front of everyone she blurts out in a nice load voice, "You left the baby's sippy cup at the bar!"

Great - dad of the year.