Fathers Day Gone Wrong-Jaybeau

It's Father's Day 1997. I offer to take my two small children Matt, five, and Jordan, seven to the beach in my NEW beautiful black Nissan Maxima. 

It resembled the Batmobile. (Keep in mind those were my manager days and I was hallucinating from lack of sleep.) Mom recommended against taking my NEW car because, she said "trust me, small kids at the beach can be messy." My kids begin an angelic choir chant of "new car, new car, new car." I thought, how would a cool young Dad look in a Honda Accord station wagon when I could cruise to Misquamicut Beach in the BATMOBILE?

I now turn into a seven year old and join in chanting "new car, new car, NEW CAR!" Mom says "proceed at your own risk." (She was not a fan of Batman.)

Blinded by pride, I am now Clark Griswald with my two adorable partners in crime, about to accomplish the greatest Dad memory ever. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the day goes GREAT! I was imagining the moment where I could return to the Batcave (our little Connecticut Cape house) and tell Mom "MISSION ACCOMPOLISHED! The Batmobile is UNSCATHED."

We are about to leave the beach parking lot. I found a nice, shady spot to park under the trees. As I loaded the umbrella and chairs into the trunk, I hear the little voice of five year old Matt, call from the front of the car: "Dad, look, I drew you a picture!"

Using a sea shell, Matt carved a "smiley face" into the hood. Mom-1, Batman-0