Father’s Dilemma

Father woke up in the morning he knew what was ahead. Down to the kitchen he ran and his wife gave him his coffee. Then kissed him on the cheek, gently reminding him of the task ahead. His wife was going Christmas shopping and his children were at Nana’s. His in-laws were coming to dinner, a brightly decorated house to see.

Father sighed and went outside he yanked up the garage door and looked at the boxes marked Christmas. He wasn’t a do-it-yourselfer, never had been and every year he always forgot what he had done the year before that. So he pulled out all the boxes - there was a large wad of lights, Santa and his reindeer, and an angel for the rooftop.

He pulled out his trusty aluminum ladder propped it up against the house and began to climb up. He had the wad of lights and his heavy-duty stapler in his pocket. Father managed to get up on the roof. He sat down and started to unwind the lights. Soon the string of lights reached from the roof to the ground and father suddenly realized he hadn’t checked a single bulb, not a one!

Gritting his teeth in frustration he dropped the lights to the snow below and descended the ladder once more. He checked his watch and saw that he had five hours to go. Then he went into the garage and plugged in the string of lights. For a moment he wasn’t sure what he was seeing and then in desperation, he saw that none of the lights were lit.

He’d forgotten that last year just before the New Year the Christmas lights had burned out. He knew he could never get everything done not if he had to run to the store. Then father remembered and he was so relieved on the Internet that a new business had just sprung up just in time for Christmas for others as inept as him.

They offered to decorate houses in any state all for a certain price. Father dashed inside and hurried to his study. He quickly punched in Christmas decorations and got the site up real quick. He found the number he needed in his state picked up the phone and called them. He was informed that they could do the job but had just a few questions, please. Father found himself dashing about his study to answer their questions about the size of the house. After everything was said and done they said a truck would come. It would have Christmas lights and a Santa on the side.

Father was so relieved he took a can of beer and sat on his porch to wait. After an hour he started to worry there were only four more hours to go. Then a truck blaring Christmas music pulled up and out jumped six men. Father greeted them and said he needed the job done quickly. They assured him it would take them under three hours and he was glad he’d have time to spare. So as he watched the men attached the Christmas lights, took his decorations, and set them up. They took his check and said, “See you next year!”

Father saw that it was just about dark he went inside just as the snow started to fall. He splashed water upon his forehead as if from the effort of decorating his house. He sat in the darkness and had a well-deserved beer. He heard his wife’s car pull up and he knew she was thinking. What with the house all dark her husband had done nothing, nothing at all. She honked the car horn three times and Father went into the kitchen. From there to the garage and pulled up the switch. The house came ablaze and he heard his children shout, “Yeah, daddy!”. His wife and in-laws were clapping as he appeared on the porch. His spouse and kids surrounded him and hugged him. His in-laws said, “Well done!” He was the hero of the day!