Falling Down

Falling Down

Lest you start to think that we are being too hard on the King over here, that we are stuffing him with supplements and changing up his poor little life, I thought I would share this photo.  I thought you would appreciate that while we are trying to make positive changes in our collective life, there are times that we regress and do the stupidest, most ridiculous and unconstructive things for Coleman.  This is one. 

He finds people falling down hilarious.  I’d like to think it’s because he watched someone fall on T.V. that was intentionally hilarious, like Jim Carrey or Amy Schumer, but that’s not the case.  He just thinks falling is funny stuff.   One night when we were all upstairs in the girls’ room saying goodnight, Coleman turned to Billy and said with a huge grin, “Fall down!”  Billy stared at him confused.  “What?”  “Fall down!” he said again.  Billy looked at me, and then at the girls, and then did what any normal loving father would do.  He fell to the ground in the most loud and preposterous way.  Coleman nearly died laughing.  And so it began, another well-intentioned activity that we have to now somehow break. 

Because we loved seeing him laugh like that, we all started falling everywhere.  And he loved it.  Every time he asked us “Fall down?” with that adorable grin, we hit the floor lickety split with all of the “Oh No!”s and “UGH HELP!”s we could muster up, and we all had a good laugh over it.  Only now, we can’t stop.  I have to fall on my way out the door to work each day.   “Mama fall down?” he asks (demands?) as I step out the door.  And I oblige.  God only knows what our neighbors think.  Or, in the rare moment we are all in the same room, he exclaims suddenly to all of us “Fall Down Everyone!” and this mildly insane family does just that, as if there is an incoming rocket aimed at our heads, we dive to the floor and Coleman laughs and laughs.  Most often it is Billy who is the target of the request, and Coleman haunts him multiple times each day for his performance.   “Fall down Dad?” and if Billy tries to say no, or say “Maybe later”, or walk away, Coleman is after him, relentless, pulling at him, tugging his shirt, haunting him, pleading with him  “Just once.  Fall down Dad?”  until finally, Billy gives in and falls to ground in a heap of loud noises.  And Coleman leans over him laughing his little head off. 

So you can rest easy that the King is still in charge, and that despite our best efforts, he will always reign mighty over some things.  And if you see Coleman and he says to you “Fall down!” hit the deck, please, and put on a good show.  You’ve got some tough competition over here.