For some weird reason, I've always found flags to be really
cool forms of interior decorating. Possibly something to do with the bright,
bold colors. Or maybe the way in which the slightest breeze from a ceiling fan
or air outlet can cause ripples across the flag. While that's really cool and
all, it's probably not the most likely scenario.
 |
| I promise I'm not this into flags... |
More likely is that it's kind of a lazy man's form of
covering white space up on walls. That would also explain the fact that while
my college dorm room was once host to an American flag, Brazilian flag, and a
Dale Earnhardt Jr. flag (one of these things is not like the other), my homes
since getting married have had none of the sort.
There is an exception to that rule though. Game days. Yes,
on game days, the no flag zone is out of play. It began in our apartment when I
would always proudly fly my Dale Jr. flag in the window on race days. Now, that
tradition proudly continues with the presence of a Chiefs Kingdom flag
fluttering in our front window at least one day each week in the fall.
Now, I get to the point of this post. You see, I'm not the
only Holt who enjoys this tradition. While Bethany's fairly ambivalent towards
it as a whole (I think), that's not the case for the youngest Holt.
When the Chiefs flag is not in use, I generally just lay it
lazily across our spare bed where it patiently awaits it's next game day. Well,
on Wednesday of this week, Ellie decided early that it was time for the flag to
be raised. She first delivered the carabiners I use to hang the flag on our
curtain rod before leaving and returning with the flag. Unfortunately, I had to
break the news to her that the flag does not fly on Wednesdays and returned the
items to storage (to the disappointment and tears of my child).
However, I am not completely without heart. With this
weekend representing a playoff game for all of Chiefs Kingdom, I made her a
promise that we could fly the flag on both Friday and Saturday this week. Well,
apparently Ellie remembered that promise since her first act this morning was to
proudly present the carabiners to Bethany. Unfortunately for Ellie, her quest
to see the flag fly had to wait just a little longer until I arrived back home
from my morning workout.
As soon as I arrived home, Bethany clued me in that Ellie
was excited and ready to fly the flag. So with that, I turned to my daughter,
gazing up at me with her big, blue eyes, and said, "Ellie, it's time to
hang the flag!" With that, Ellie made a beeline for the spare room and
came out proudly hoisting the red and yellow carabiners above her head. As I
gently took them from her hand, she then turned and quickly climbed the stairs
before returning with the flag in tow.
Ellie waited patiently for me to carefully clip the
carabiners onto our curtain rod before happily presenting me with the flag. As
soon as the last grommet was clipped on, I picked my daughter up and watched as
she pointed to the flag, rubbing the soft, smooth texture, and smiling all the
while. However, that's not the only attention she'll pay to the flag during the
course of the day. It's not at all out of the ordinary for her to occasionally
just walk over and gaze up at the flag, beaming at the soft glow of it being
illuminated by the sun.
I'm glad Ellie enjoys this little tradition for several
reasons. It obviously gives me hope that I'm not accidently raising a Broncos
or Raiders fan (or even a Cowboys fan). That would be a terrible tragedy for
all of mankind. Secondly and more importantly, it's just something else special
we can enjoy doing together. You never know, maybe it'll even be her first
memory.
Side note, when do kids develop their first memories? I just
need to know so that her first memory isn't something that would be embarrassing
to me. If it embarrasses Mommy, that's probably fine though. #DaddyWrite
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