brooke and i
took maddy to the
santa monica pier for
a day of fun.
it didn’t start
off too well
because madeline’s
forehead took a direct
hit when a pigeon
flew over her.
(she was calm throughout, and didn’t seem to mind, unlike brooke and me).
so why am
i bringing this
up today?
well, because maddy did.
this morning.
on the way
to daycare.
7 months after
it happened…
“daddy, what’s that on the window?”
she said, pointing
at the big
spot on my windshield.
“that’s bird poop, maddy.”
she laughed pretty hard
when she heard
me say poop.
but then she
got serious.
very serious.
“daddy, i need to wear a hat so that birds don’t poop on me in santa monica, okay?”
…
now, i’ve maybe
mentioned this once
or twice since the
day it happened,
and i wasn’t even
talking to her…
she may have
overheard my conversation
with someone else.
i haven’t
mentioned in at
least 5 months
and i never mention
the santa monica part.
but she remembers
that a
bird shit on
her and that
it happened in
santa monica.
i had no
idea that a
forehead covered in
pigeon shit would
make such a
big impression on her.
i mean,
i can’t believe
she can remember
that moment.
but i guess
i’ll never forget about
the time a
pigeon shit on
me when i was
in the
jardin de luxembourg
in paris in 1999.
the big difference?
i was 21
when it happened
to me.
she was a few
months past 2
when it happened
to her.
i can only
hope that when
she gets older that
isn’t her first
memory of her
early childhood.
but i’m betting it
will be.
wait…
on second thought,
that’s a pretty
awesome first memory.
From Paris to Santa Monica… Is this the same pigeon?
This is awesome and maybe even one of my favorite posts (although I’m sorry a bird crapped on her head, although I also heard it’s good luck but that’s maybe just something people say). Anyway, damn kids are smart. So neat to see when they are putting stuff together.
oh crap, that comment is missing a comma after damn. I don’t mean “damn kids”
My grandfather always wore a hat to protect his balding head from bird poop. Evidently they sought him out. Also, he always claimed that when a bird poops on your head, it’s a sign of good luck. Not sure what kind of sense that makes, but him telling me that is one of my early childhood memories that endure!
Isn’t it crazy how kids do that? My 5 dad swears that my five year old (who has a crazy memory) remembered something from when was one and a half.
Dear Matt, I am an avid reader of your blog. you are a parental inspiration!! I am looking for your book to come out.
Today I am writing to you for the first time, because I believe in the power of the human spirit to help others. There is a young mother in Michigan, that blogs and is grieving the death of her young husband and is about to give birth to their 3rd child in days. Please if you have a chance read her story and if you can, reach out to her. Your words have touched so many and I pray that you can be a comfort to her.
http://veronking2003.blogspot.com/
Thank you
When I was 23 and on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota, I was bombed by a seagull! We were told that the reason was that we were too close to its territory and nest, and that’s probably true as it passed over me several times before I was nailed. Needless to say, we left that spot!
I had a bird poop on my head once…I figure it only gets the special ones!! Welcome to the club
Very cute first memory indeed!!
The walk from Santa Monica to Venus beach….So great..I spent a week there in June!!
Matt – love your post.
Totally off topic but what are Maddie’s favorite apps on iPod/iPad?
I’m looking to get some more for my daughter.
Thanks!
My child had the same kind of memory until she turned 12. Now she can’t remember squat, espcially rules or homework items etc. LOL
Hah…this made me think of one time when we were sitting at the Maple Grove library watching a bird show with my grandpa Joe. He was fairly bald. One of the birds flew away from the handler and was sitting in the rafters. He ended up pooping right on my grandpa’s head! We all could not stop laughing.
My Grandpa Joe passed away in 2003. Thanks for making me think of him with this memory.
Your blog is amazing. I can’t wait to read the book!
hahaha those pictures made me laugh out loud! when I was little I always pretended to go to “Santy Mony-ca” on my tricycle (thats where my dad worked at the time) so I could go see my dad!
We always say our oldest daughter, who just turned five, has the memory of an elephant. When she had just turned two we went to Costco and she dropped a smoothie I had purchased for her in the middle of an aisle in the store. When I bought her a smoothie the other day she told me the entire story of dropping it, where we were, what we were next to (the diapers) and how I had to find someone to help me clean it up. This kind of stuff happens all the time, and it freaks me out. She also like to say, “remember yesterday when I…” and she is referring to something that happened years ago. Amazing how their little minds work!
She’s just brilliant. That’s all there is to it. You’re going to have to think fast with her around.
Hey! I got shit on by a bird in Santa Monica, too! It was in 1998 and I still hold a grudge toward the whole state of California.
it’s amazing what impacts and stays with little ones. and i agree, it’s a pretty awesome first memory. one that will at least make her chuckle when she thinks of it.
So maybe she remembers sitting there getting her picture taken before the bird shit got cleaned off her forehead!
I ordered my book!!! April is SO damn far away right now. Seriously.
I’m sure that anticipation, plus the 38 feet of snow we’ve got this year are going to make for a great Springtime in Minnesota.
Can’t wait to see you guys at the book signing!!
My earliest memory is sitting in my walker at age 1 – looking up at the dishwasher, mesmerized by the lighted buttons. So if I can remember being one year old, I bet that Maddy does, too! I do think it would be pretty freakin’ cool if the bird shitting episode was her first memory, though! LOL
I’ll never forget the day my oldest son (now almost 5) began spouting off the things he did at The Children’s Museum when he was about 3 months shy of 2 more than a year after we’d been there. Kids will never cease to amaze you!
My 2 year old is just a few days older than Maddy and she has the same kind of memory. Pretty scary if they remember something you don’t want them too. Audrey still tells me things that we did or happened to her when she was 2 and she is almost 3!
I haven’t read through the other comments – but that’s a hell of a memory which makes me think you’ve got one gifted kid on your hands there…..she’ll be outsmarting you before you know it! good luck!
That Maddy is quite amazing, but I know you know that. She is quite a precious gift. My daughter was never as calm or understanding as M seems to be (she’s almost 4 now). You are doing such a fabulous job. As a young mom, I find myself looking to you for parenting tips at times, especially the fact that you dont take advantage of what you have with her. I remind myself of that often.
Asalamu Alaykom Mr. Matt,
Swear to God, you must be the only dad who takes photos of bird poop on his sweet girlie’s head. LOL! It was a REALLY gross picture, too.
Can I guess that I’m not seeing you three in Egypt any time soon? I think you may have missed your window of opportunity. The Great Pyramids will still be here but I’m not sure if much of anything else will be left standing.
Send some peace this way if you can.
3B is much the same way with his memory. I figure it’s easier for him to remember everything, because, really, he’s only got a few things to keep track of. Plus, he’s not being distracted wondering where he left the car keys, his phone, that tax form that just came in the mail, the car…
Love this!!! Wouldn’t be such a horrible first memory.
I agree, as a first memory that rocks and will definitely make a great story at a party!
Matt, I was so excited to see that your Two Kisses for Maddie is a Goodreads giveaway book! I entered of course but also of course there are tons of people signed up. Still, I’m sure you know it’s on goodreads, but I wanted to tell you I saw it and it makes me excited because I know it’s coming out and will be in my hands (whether through the giveaway or by ol’ fashioned buying it at the book store) soon. Congratulations!
HAHA! I still remember when a bird shit in my hair. All my friends laughed at me because I stuck my hand in it and then smelled it. YEEEUCK!
It happens to the best of us…
maybe she gets up at night while you are sleeping and re-reads your old blog posts.
cause i bet that is it.
“Lux garden”, in Paris????? I´m so jealous!!!
This was my favorite outdoors place in there!!!
Despite all my fear, I took the 2 kids and acomplished the plans that my and Fernando (husb) have made for your family last Christmas: I went to Paris this January!!!
Even if Fernando is not here anymore, I felt I should do this FOR him, for us, for our family. And I did!
There were no piggeons at Luxembourg Garden, though… because it was 2oC outside!!!! Luck me!!!
Kisses and blessings for all of you!
Mirys from Brazil
http://www.diariodos3mosqueteiros.blogspot.com
PS: you can see some photos of us in Paris, at your blog if you want to know about this crazy trip – a widow young mother with to litlle kids in winter in Europe! It was awsome!!!
Matt, I’ve been reading your blog for over a year now and love it. When I discovered it, I went all the way back to the beginning. My husband was quite annoyed with me because I kept reading your posts to him. I’d say, “hold on, listen to this…” He thinks you are a cool guy – as do tons of people I know. I’m looking forward to the release of your book!
This post makes me smile. When I was little, I have a favorite memory of watching my dad get shit on while we were on a ferry. It was awesome!! Years after I kept counting my blessings that I’d never been shit on. Then, one day at work (I was 17 at the time and worked at an amusement park), a bird spotted me and karma swung around and smacked me right on the face…and my sunglasses
I was mortified. Those memories will never leave me because, at the end of the day, both ended up being pretty funny. It looks like Maddie is going to have a TON of great memories like that. You’re an awesome dad!
Congrats on all of your success!
All the best,
Someone’s mom
This story just made me laugh out loud-HARD.
I had to laugh, we have all had this happen but few of us have a photo to remember it. Living on the coast does have it benefits. I love that you have so many photos of your beautiful family. I have a 11 yr. old son and he hates to have his photo take, but I am so glad I took tons of photos to remember the past.