I love coming home to my family!  It never gets old.  Whether gone for a few hours, days or weeks … pulling up to the curb, looking the house over, cutting across the front yard, and opening the front door … to the cheers, applause, accolades, hugs and kisses of my adoring Wife and two girls.

Ok, so maybe every time I walk in the front door it isn’t as magical a moment as said.  But more often than not, even if there is crying or fighting going on somewhere in the house when I walk in, at minimum a crying three-year-old will make her way over and just want to be held.

Well yesterday … not so much.

It was Thursday and I had a date planned with Wife!  Our plans for the evening involved a babysitter, dinner, and a comedy club.  I pull the truck up next to the curb, a little further forward than normal because the garbage cans for our neighbor will still out on the street.  I should have known there way something strange in the air!  Get out of my truck, still in uniform, shut the door and make way through the front yard, stepping over the mulch bordering the sidewalk and up to the porch.  The door was locked, nothing too abnormal.  Quick turn of the key and Daddy is home!

Much of the time I will try and be quiet to try and see how long I can sneak around before the kids or dogs realize I am home.  The locked door gave me away tonight.  Dogs went berzerk (my fans love me!)  And then my three-year-old princess, Little Lady dashes around the corner with a HUGE smile on her face.

This here is a Daddy moment.  This is when after a long and tiring day, you know you are home and home is more than just the house.  This is when you smile because you are King of the castle.  This … this dear readers … wasn’t actually one of those moments…

Little Lady sees me, looks me right in the eyes, her big blues grow wide, smile disappears, bottom lip quivers, instant giant tears down the cheek and sobbing as she turns from me and runs away.

Ouch.

Sooo apparently, Little Lady was very excited about the babysitter coming over to play with her and her sister, and it was an unexpected surprise for her to see Daddy come through the front door instead.  Oh well.

Yes she cried for the next 5 minutes but I didn’t take it toooo personally.  I went into her room where she was fake-pouting and got her to lighten up a bit.  I put it in the ‘win’ column that she was so excited for a night with the babysitter!

I don’t think that incident will really tarnish her record in my fan club all too much, though.  She sure is a crackup!