| The three-year-old Is a different story. |
| The three-year-old, Here’s her deal. |
| She’s a three-year-old.
|
| That’s really it. |
| She’s three years old. |
| The other day I got in a fight with her. |
| Whose fault is that?
|
| I’m 41, And she’s 3 It’s always your fault With a three-year-old. |
| Always. |
| Because they are just
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| what they are. |
| They can’t help it. |
| Just tape the windows. |
| It’s a fucking hurricane. |
| Just wait.
|
| Anytime you’re like this with a three-year-old- “Don’t you under-” You’re an idiot. |
| That’s you
|
| being an idiot. |
| “Don’t you understand?” |
| “No, I don’t, dad. |
| I haven’t developed enough. |
| You just
|
| have to wait.” |
| But it was partly her fault, ‘Cause she wore me down. |
| Let me tell you What
|
| happened. |
| It was this horrible, Horrible day. |
| It started the night before, ‘Cause she woke me up
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| all night. |
| Just woke me up Every fucking- Just ten minutes. |
| Just woke me up- Just- “Dad. |
| ” With
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| nothing. |
| That’s the worst part. |
| “Daddy!” |
| “Wha-what? |
| What is it?” |
| “Um… ” “Oh, fuck you. |
| You got
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| nothing. |
| You bullshitter, you. |
| ” So now it’s the next morning, I’m making breakfast, And I’m gone.
|
| I’m insane. |
| I drank too much coffee to overcompensate, And I’m like- I keep having these
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| moments where it’s like- and there’s nothing there. |
| Just nothing. |
| “Uh, okay. |
| Jesus. |
| ” I’m making
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| french toast. |
| She’s over there sitting in her little chair, just fucking anger. |
| Just pure-she’s A little
|
| ball of anger. |
| She’s like, “I want french toast!” |
| I’m like, “yeah, that’s what I’m making, honey. |
| I’m
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| making french toast. |
| ” I bring it over. |
| “Here.” |
| “Give me syrup!” |
| “Yes. |
| of course. |
| I’ll give you syrup. |
| I always do. |
| I love you very much.” |
| “Cut it for me!” |
| “I’m happy to cut it for you. |
| “You’re not
|
| asking nicely, But it’s okay. |
| “I’ll cut it for you, Baby. |
| I love you very much.” |
| Then she’s looking at
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| her plate, and she’s literally going- ‘Cause she needs to be- Want something. |
| You know, she
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| didn’t- There’s nothing logical For her to want, So her brain has to go somewhere crazy. |
| So she’s
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| looking at her plate. |
| She goes, “I don’t know Which piece to eat!” |
| And I’m still not engaging. |
| I’m
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| like, “Oh, I know, honey. |
| “That’s hard. |
| That’s really hard. |
| “I’ll just make a list of pros and cons for
|
| every piece, And I’ll help you with it later. |
| ” And I look at her, And she’s walking towards me now
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| With the plate just vertical, With syrup fucking Going on the floor. |
| She’s like, “Help me! |
| You’re
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| not helping!” |
| And I’m standing there, Like, looking at her, And I love her, And I’m proud of her in
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| a way, ‘Cause I know she’ll never Want for anything. |
| She’ll beat the shit Out of people. |
| She’s…
|
| She’ll kill people for meat After the apocalypse. |
| She’ll be one of those. |
| And then later I’m trying
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| To get them dressed for school, And now the clock’s ticking, And I’m like, “uh… ” And I’m trying
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| to put A sweater on her, And it’s impossible. |
| The sweater has buttons That just don’t exist. |
| And
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| I’m fucking- My fat fingers, And they’re full of sweat. |
| And I have just tears Going down my
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| cheeks. |
| Crazy tears. |
| I’m not crying. |
| I’m, like, Smiling with tears. |
| Copious- “I can’t- I can’t put on
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| the sweater. |
| “I can’t put on the sweater. |
| I can’t. |
| I really can’t do it. |
| ” And she’s going like this. |
| So I
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| give her a fig newton Just to immobilize her, Just to stop it. |
| ‘Cause she loves fig newtons. |
| I go,
|
| “here, honey. |
| Have a fig newton. |
| ” She goes, “they’re not Called fig newtons. |
| They’re called pig
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| newtons. |
| ” And I go, “No, they’re not. |
| They’re called fig newtons. |
| ” And right away in my head
|
| I’m like, “what are you doing? |
| “Why? |
| What is to be gained? |
| What do you care?” |
| Just-“yeah, pig
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| newtons. |
| Fine. |
| Go ahead. |
| “Good luck to you. |
| Go through life. |
| “See what kind of job You can hold
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| down “With shit like that Clanging around in your head. |
| I don’t care. |
| I’ll be dead.” |
| But for some
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| reason I engaged. |
| “No, honey, They’re called fig newtons.” |
| She goes, “No. |
| You don’t know. |
| You
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| don’t know. |
| They’re called pig newtons.” |
| And I just-I feel this rage building inside. |
| Just… Because
|
| it’s not That she’s wrong. |
| She’s three. |
| She’s entitled to be wrong. |
| But it’s the fucking arrogance of |
| this kid. |
| No humility. |
| No decent sense of self-doubt. |
| She’s not going like, “dad, I think those are
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| pig newtons. |
| Are you sure That you have it right?” |
| She’s not saying that. |
| She’s not going, like,
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| “Dad, I’m pretty sure Those are pig newtons,” Which would be a little Cunty, but acceptable. |
| I
|
| could deal with that. |
| She’s giving me nothing. |
| “No, you don’t know. |
| Those are pig-” I’m like,
|
| “Really? |
| I don’t know? |
| “I don’t know? |
| “Dude, I’m not even using My memory right now, okay?
|
| “I’m reading the fucking box “That the shit came out of! |
| “It says it! |
| Where are you getting your
|
| information?” |
| “How do you fuck with me on this? |
| “You’re 3 and I’m 41! |
| “What are the odds that
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| you’re right and I’m wrong? |
| “What are the sheer odds of that? |
| “And take a bite of the cookie.
|
| “Does it taste like a pork cookie, motherfucker? |
| “I don’t think so. |
| Why would they call it a pig
|
| newton?” |
| “What’s- Oh, it tastes like figs. |
| Fucking interesting, That, isn’t it?” |
| I didn’t say a word of
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| that. |
| Obviously.
|
| But anyway, later… Got the kids dressed. |
| It’s winter. |
| We all have the layers on, And it’s time to go
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| to school. |
| And I’ve got ten minutes To get to a school That’s ten minutes away, Which is a
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| horrible feeling. |
| I put my hand On the door to leave, And all of a sudden I go, “I got to take a shit.
|
| “Take the coats off, kids. |
| “We’re gonna be late. |
| “You’re gonna be 40 minutes late. |
| I don’t give a
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| shit.” |
| I am not walking to school like this. |
| I can’t use the bathroom at the school, ‘Cause child molesters ruined that for everybody. |
| Just-we’re- I’m shitting here. |
| So I’m sitting on the toilet. |
| I’m
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| shitting. |
| With the door open, By the way. |
| That’s my life. |
| Two kids by myself. |
| I can’t shit with the
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| door closed. |
| Unless I gather them into the bathroom To watch daddy take a dump. |
| Which I’ve
|
| done With the little one. |
| “Honey, uh, I got to poop And you’re too crazy. |
| Just come with me. |
| You
|
| got to come with me. |
| ” So I’m sitting there, And I’m shitting, And I’m trying to see them In the
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| other room. |
| “Honey, Stay between the tables. |
| I can’t see you,” I said. |
| The little one Walks into
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| view naked. |
| It’s all gone. |
| All gone. |
| Walks up, looks at me. |
| And then she- I don’t know why, But
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| she shows me her ass. |
| It’s something She always does when she’s- She just goes- “Look at it!
|
| Daddy, You’re not looking!” |
| So I’m sitting there shitting, Looking at her ass. |
| And I saw something
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| That I’d never seen before. |
| And I’m gonna describe it to you The way that I saw it, Because it
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| just-I didn’t know What I was looking at. |
| I’m looking at her little, White ass. |
| She’s white. |
| Little,
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| perfect, Little, white ass. |
| And right in the center of it, This little black dot Just-boop! |
| Appeared
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| like magic. |
| That’s what it Looked like to me, Because I’ve never Seen shit Actually coming out of
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| an ass before. |
| I never saw that. |
| I never saw the shit- Like, the crowning, The shit coming out. |
| And
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| if you ever do see that, It’s fucking bananas, man. |
| It’s weird. |
| And upsetting. |
| I yelled. |
| I went,
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| “aah!” |
| And a second later, just- She just drops This massive- I felt the impact tremor Under my
|
| feet. |
| This huge pile of shit. |
| Just a pile. |
| Like several people’s Pile of shit. |
| Like a port-a-potty on The
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| last day of the festival. |
| Just a huge, Huge pile of shit. |
| How? |
| She’s three. |
| This kid shits like a bear. |
| I
|
| don’t understand it. |
| Seriously. |
| If you were in the woods And you saw a shit like that, You’d be
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| like, “let’s get The fuck out of here! |
| Run!” |
| Huge pile of shit. |
| As big as her whole body. |
| Easily. |
| I
|
| thought she would just crumple Like a balloon on top of it. |
| “Huh. |
| Weird. |
| ” She’s standing there
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| just Straddling this huge shit, Presenting it, like… She slips, falls Right into her own shit. |
| Yes, fell- I
|
| was there. |
| Fell right in the middle of her own heap of shit. |
| Her head hit the floor. |
| You know that
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| sound of your Kid’s head hitting the floor? |
| “Ooh. |
| Oh, God. |
| “Uh, she’s done. |
| “That’s it for her.
|
| She’s finished. |
| “She’s gonna be running To the mailbox once a day. |
| That’s about it for her. |
| ” Now
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| she’s laying In her shit, Screaming and crying And making an angel. |
| I run over. |
| I’m still shitting, |
| Holding a Shit-covered child. |
| We’re the shit family. |
| That’s what we are. |
| The seven-year-old’s
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| Standing there, “I got to get The fuck out of here. |
| This is horrible. |
| “ That’s my life right now, man.
|
| That’s-like, where in there do I fit, like, getting pussy? |
| Like, there’s no place for that. |
| I can’t even
|
| think about it. |