My Son is Telling People I Used to be a Nut

With the start of the School year, Lukas is back to wearing his uniform to school.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with school uniforms, it's not as bad as it sounds.

That's because they aren't wearing athletic jerseys, or aprons, or greasy coveralls with a patch displaying their name on their chest.  They are simply wearing certain articles of clothing such as khaki pants and polo shirts that are color schemed for the school.

Logos are off limits.  Unless, of course, it is the logo of the school.  For Lukas his school logo is that of an Owl, and we found out that for a few extra bucks Land's End will put the logo onto an article of clothing.  So we got him one, big spenders that we are.  The plan is that he will only wear this particular polo shirt, with the owl logo, on special occasions.  Like the first week of class.

And, apparently to after school care if he forgets to take it off.

Since his after school program is unaffiliated with his school, the folks there had not seen the owl logo on his shirt before and were duly impressed.  Read: They thought it was cool, which I will have to admit certainly is the case.  But as the aftercare director was telling me how cool the logo was, he also chuckled and said "Hey, I heard you used to be a nut".

This took me by surprise at first as I wasn't sure what he was referring to.  But then he elaborated. Apparently Lukas mentioned that his logo and mascot were indeed cool, which was fortunate because his dad was ONLY a nut, and didn't have a logo when he (I) was a kid.

I had to laugh at that, because it had been a while since I told him about my grade school and high school mascot.

You see I came from a very small town.  A town known for it's Oak Trees.  And, of course way back in the early part of the 1900's, or whenever the school and town elders, in their infinite wisdom, were deciding on a name for our school mascot they knew that we need one that sounded fierce.  One that would strike fear into the hearts of  local opponents.

That's why instead of simply the Acorns, we were known as The FIGHTING Acorns.

Pretty nuts, right?

When I told Lukas this he really got a kick out of it.  "You were nuts dad?!" he had asked with an incredulous smile on his face.  "Not just nuts, Bud. Fighting nuts!" I responded putting up my dukes in a mock pose.

Yeah, I guess you can imagine the reaction we got from our opponents.  Can't you?  The truth was we had to fight.  We had to be a little NUTS!  And we were.

Of course, as Mrs. LIAYF and Lukas will undoubtedly tell you, I still am.