The Showdown in Snow Town

I never really had a chance.

You can call it a showdown, but the writing was on the wall and I was going down. I was destined to lose to the Chatty Chatty Princess!

Yesterday I brought the Chatty Chatty Princess (the “CCP”) to the office with me since she was out of school for Spring Break. I was scheduled to be one of the speakers for our weekly Toastmasters meeting. One of out other speakers had dropped out, so I asked the CCP if she would be willing to recite one of her poems at the meeting. She excitedly said yes.

By the time the meeting was scheduled to start our other speaker had dropped out. That left only two speaker for the day — me and the CCP. We were headed for a showdown!

There was never a doubt in my mind who would win this competition. Despite my finely crafted speech on the Legend of the Turtlephant, despite my incredible use of story-telling and use of body language, despite my years of experience, I knew from the start that I was destined to lose. No matter how good you are, there is no chance to beat an adorable eight-year-old girl who is precocious enough to stand in front of a room full of strangers and recite an original poem about her dog Rufus. No chance at all …

And, to give her credit, she delivered a flawless performance! She took the stage at the front of the Toastmasters meeting, grabbed everyone’s attention, and recited her poem “Rufus in the Red Chair.” She explained the background and origins of the poem, recited it from memory, and used vocal variety, facial expressions, and gestures to give dramatic effect. I was doomed.

But, of course, in the end I was the true winner. I got way more joy from watching her perform than I ever could from performing well myself. That is the joy of being a dad. That is the stuff of life!!!

So, in the end, everyone was a winner at:

THE SHOWDOWN IN SNOW TOWN!!