The Cold

by K_REY_C | More from this Blogger

20 Jun 2009 04:16 AM

Does anyone remember the scene in the second "Father of the Bride" film where Steve Martin is wearing a winter jacket, fur, mittens, and tending to his pregnant wife and daughter who are sweating? He then prepares to leave the house and under the winter coat reveals shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Is this ringing a bell? I never thought that this was real. I mean, the film is a wonderful heartwarming comedy but I never thought that a husband would have to run around the freezing home in a winter coat because pregnant women get so hot. I think what I neglected was location.

We live in Texas. While Texas has a great many attributes (like an almost complete avoidance of winter) parts of the state also suffer from unbelievably hot summers. This "Texas Summer" is now upon my wife and I and I found myself slowly losing control of what I thought was a reasonable temperature for the house.

First, my wife insisted that the down comforter was a far too warm to use months ago. I like the weight and softness of the down but was willing to concede the removal by replacing a lighter comforter. However, looking back, I didn't really think this had anything to do with pregnancy. This morning I found myself waking to the fear, of even the idea, of removing the sheet between my skin and two full blowing fans and a running air conditioner.

Today my wife and I went shopping (or what I'd rather call "browsing") for a quilt because she just doesn't like the aesthetic or weight of what we already have. I'm now willing to wager that this is simply stalling until her body has one less baby and significantly less blood on the other side of her skin. We'll see.

I'm starting to think that what Steve Martin enacted in the "Father of the Bride" films was not such a stretch from reality as I once thought. The caricature is not so unlike its counterpart in reality. I have actually thought of breaking out a sweater for sleeping.

Since the "freezing house" scene appears to be true I'll have to prepare myself for the inevitable trials of the wedding of a daughter. Perhaps luckily we're only expecting a boy at the moment. How does one cope with the wedding of a son? Perhaps you can recommend a film below to help me... or go and write one!

Learn more about K_REY_C

Kyle is a husband, father, graduate student, playwright, dramaturg, actor, graphic designer, instructor, technology enthusiast, excel master, and friend.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger