Parenting Guru: Summer surprises from my goofy dad

Manic Motherhood
Photo by Laurie Sontag
Photo by Laurie Sontag

This is my father. This is not a typical picture of my father. First, he's not a big hat guy. Second, I didn't know he knew who Goofy was. Turns out, he does know Goofy. And it turns out, he likes to pretend he is Goofy.


Kind of cool, right?


This photo was taken over the summer. My extended family isn't huge, but we have always lived far away from each other. This year a bunch of us - parents, aunts, uncles, cousins - got together for 4 days at Disneyland - the Happiest Place on Earth. We celebrated kids getting bigger. We celebrated birthdays with Mickey. We sat by the pool and watched the big kids help the little kids on the water slide.


For the most part, there were no surprises. Until my dad decided he wanted to ride the rides. Here's the thing. Growing up, we spent summers in Southern California. We've been to Disneyland a billion times. I've never seen my dad ride any ride other than Pirates of the Caribbean.


But this trip, Dad wanted to ride. He needed a wheelchair, due to a foot injury (he's a diabetic, and had a wound on his foot). As I've said, normally my dad would have just shut himself off in his hotel room, watching Fox News and NASCAR. Instead, he ventured out, had my 15-year-old push him around Disneyland for several days, and even confiscated a Goofy hat to wear.


But the best part?


I'd never been on a roller coaster with dad. And when he went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, he screamed like a teenage girl who had just been smooched by Justin Beiber.


That was totally cool. And a bit Goofy, too.


What about you?

Have your parents ever surprised you by doing something new?

Or have you surprised your kids by doing something you never thought you'd do?

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Laurie Sontag is a parenting guru who is navigating the wild waters of her son's teenage years by hiding in her closet waiting for puberty to be over. You can read more of her work at her blog, Manic Motherhood, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.