my dad is cooler than yours

My dad is cooler than yours. 

I haven't heard those words since I was maybe about 10 years old. But, I will admit that I have since thought about it. 

Those words were the biggest throw down a 5 year old could ever dish out to a fellow 5 year old. As small children that is really all we got. We have parents, a house, maybe a pet (if you were lucky). Our dads are always stronger, our moms are always prettier and our houses are always bigger. It doesn't matter if any of these are actually true. We will defend our claims until the bitter end. 

The thing is, when I was little I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that indeed my dad was better than yours. My dad was a veterinarian. He took care of dogs and cats. He was the only veterinarian I knew. 

Since I didn't know anyone whose dad was an astronaut or who trained tigers for the circus, my dad was by far the coolest dad in the whole world. 

I still believe that my dad is pretty much the coolest dad ever. I mean, maybe it would be cooler if he was a human heart surgeon, or perhaps a special agent or even a famous movie star. But if he was any of those things I wouldn't be able to watch him replace a dog's knee or deliver a batch of puppies. 

I always wanted my children to have the same "cool factor". It's looking like they might not have it quite as good as me. Having a social worker for a mom is anything but exciting. A dad whose an architect is a bit more exciting as far as bragging rights go, however, I guess my kids will just have to rely on the "strong dad" and the "pretty mom". Either that or we are gonna have to buy them horses or something. 

I could go on and on with stories about having a vet for a dad. I could talk about the time a dog gave birth in our laundry room. I could talk about all the cool animals I have seen come in, like deer and baby bears and snakes and birds. I could talk about going with my dad to do presentations in the public school. I could go on and on listing all the surgeries I have seen and the procedures done. I could tell you about the never ending supply of puppies there were to play with. I could tell you about helping my dad haul away dead bodies (animal ones). I could tell you about the awesomest first job of walking dogs and cleaning kennels or about the hours of cleaning empty syringes and pretending every one as a shot I had to give myself. Feel free to ask me about any of these some time. I am more than happy to share. 

Finally, over spring break, my husband was able to see first hand the awesomeness of having a vet for a dad. He got to watch as my dad did a pretty sweet knee surgery and then a few days later was able to assist my dad in another emergency surgery. I'm glad I get to share the awesomeness. I'm glad because of me someone gets to have an awesome dad-in-law. 

watching the surgery

poor dog

Yep, my dad's cooler than yours. Yep, I'm willing to stand by that statement. 

Maybe sometime soon I can talk about how awesome it is to have a mother-in-law who is a court reporter. Yeah, that one is definitely up there as well.