We party like wet rock stars

This morning the AtHomeTrio headed out to meet up with our local At-Home-Dad's group for a play date. It was like old times, since we haven't hit a group playtime since the start of summer.

On the way home we drove past The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. It is not uncommon to see teens and young adults in the area around the school working with staff on things like crossing streets safely and walking on the city sidewalks to get to the shops and restaurants in the area. So I hardly noticed the group of three teens crossing a busy street together, each with a white cane in hand.

At least I did not think much of it until one of the group tripped and fell on a median curb. The problem got a lot worse for that guy when his cane rolled into the storm drain. Stuck in the middle of the busy street without his white cane to help guide him to safety. The kids and I watched all of this unfold, but I could not safely leave the kids in the car and rush across the intersection. Even doing something nice might get you run over in this town.

By the time I was able to get pulled over, another guy who had seen all of this go down had pulled over and was fishing the cane out of the storm drain. Good thing he was a skinny fellow, I could not have fit through that hole anymore. After laying in the street I bet his poor dress pants won't ever be the same, though.

Dress Pants Man had left his truck blocking a lane of traffic, so he left quickly after he landed the cane. The guy who had tripped was embarassed, but no one was hurt. The group was on the way to a cell-phone store and to Starbucks down the street. But after all of the chaos they were left unsure as to which corner of the street they were currently on. We walked closer to the stores and I left these guys to finish their errands.

The rest of our drive home was taken up with a nice chat with the kids. "Why did you stop, Daddy? Why didn't he just jump over the curb? Why did that guy lay down on the street? Why did those guys have sticks?" And it felt good to hear one of the kids say "that was nice of you, Daddy."

In the end, I hope that having the kids around to see stuff like that helps to counter some of the times that they get to see me acting like a turd. Yes, my kids saw and heard me yelling at the weed-eater last month. Classy Daddy!

Once home we ate lunch and The Princess napped while I tried to get the back yard mowed. Before I was half done it started pouring again. The Talker was out front, playing with the neighbors, so he got soaked, too.

Now I am hoping Dress Pants Man will stop by and finish up my yard this afternoon. After all, his pants are already ruined, right?