Where's That Feather?

M.I.A.

Ev came home from school the other day and was quite excited and mystified by a small feather he'd found at school. He was pretty sure it had come off a pillow but couldn't be positive. He simply could not wait to show me that feather he had tucked away in the front pocket of his jeans.

As will happen in the busy life of a kindergarten kid, he soon discovered the feather was no longer in his pocket. He dug and dug and simply could not find it. Soon he had me reaching in the pockets of his micro sized jeans but to no avail.

One thing about Ev, he's not a quitter. If there's a problem he wants to solve it. Soon he had a pocket penlight and was holding the pocket open with one hand while trying to illuminate the cavity with the other-- a pocket that opens something less than one inch front to back. No luck. Frustrated but not yet resigned to his loss, he walks back into the kitchen a minute or two later, pants off. Now I can really hold the pocket open for him while he uses his miniature flashlight.

The Hollywood ending would allow that there, in the deepest recess of that pocket, while standing in the kitchen in his Star Wars Angry Bird undies, he'd find just the tip of that quill protruding, waiting for his hand to pinch the tip and retrieve his feather. But this is Michigan and the feather was not there.

It reminded me of Zuzu's petals from "It's A Wonderful Life." It just so happens, however, I was not able to come up with a spare feather to tuck in that pocket while he was distracted. Not that he'd have ever fallen for that-- he's 5 and not much gets past him anymore. It's times like that, though, when you feel like a failure as a parent!

Oh well. If that's the worst of my failings with Ev, I'll be a happy dad.