My Dad very graciously offered to hang a light in our hallway leading down the stairs to the basement.

He, like all Dads, seems to know exactly how to place a ladder on a steep, staircase angle and totally secure it while he climbs and despite not having a background in electrical engineering, just understands how this Dad stuff comes together.

His supplies; two diapers wrapped around the base of the ladder legs so as not to scratch the banister spindles, an old towel so the leaning ladder wouldn’t chip the paint (that he painted) leading down the staircase and a winning attitude as I watched in amazement at two diapers and one dangling ladder leg hanging, swaying in the wind.

Up he climbed.

I was an eager assistant, remembering the days I helped him build our tree-fort as a young girl. Wait, he did that with my little brother while I was away on a class trip. Hmmm.

When things got tense, he needed me more than ever.

“Pass me the straighty.”

He may have said “straight” but “straighty” is more in keeping with the vocabulary I’m used to hearing from the kids.

Okay, straight up Paula Abdul, straight up. Um, straight up gangsta, what is a straight(y)?

He waved toward the tool box so I figured that was where I should start.

A straight is apparently an end to a screwdriver. I passed him a couple of unacceptable straighties before he climbed down the one legged ladder, careful not to remove the diapers and found it himself.

Next round goes to Lizzy.

“Okay, I need a square head.”

Alright, square-bear, squarey, square…….head……square shaped square.

I found what looked like a square on the end of a screwdriver tip and handed it up the ladder.

“This is a diamond.”
Um, turn it sideways?

We agreed the appropriate length for the chain would be somewhere around fourteen inches.

After giving him the go ahead, he proceeded to hang the light at the end of a six foot chain and we both looked surprised at the end result.

We laughed and laughed at how funny it is to hold something heavy above your head for an extended period of time, knowing you would have to do it all over again.

Actually, he looked at me like I had said fourteen inches but handed him a diamond straighty with a pile of chain made from used diapers and suggested he use that as a guide to select a length we would both find hilarious.

My Dad is a patient man. He has to be with me as an assistant.