Cow or Giraffe! You decide. By tommy

     We have all seen those movies where the impossible happens.  Where the 40 year old ball player shows up the younger athletes or a bunch of bows, arrows, and wild animals defeat advanced military technology, and other such movies.  These movies inspire us, they keep the hope alive that the little man can win, the right will win out.  I am here to tell you that those endings belong to the movies, they don't happen in life.  Let me explain.
      It is a well know fact in our family that Chelsea is always right.  Not that she is stubborn and demands to be right but that legitimately she is factually right all the time.  I am no idiot, in fact, I feel I am rather intelligent, yet when we disagree about a bit of information she usually wins.  What is more degrading to me is that I insist on proving that in each instance I am right.  Do you see the problem in this, she continues to be right and I continue to challenge her only to learn that I am still wrong. It's a maddening, destructive cycle.

Zach's toy is the one pictured on the left, see how cute and cow like it is?

     So here is where or story begins.  We recently bought a new toy for Zach, it has an animal in a hot air balloon and when it is pulled it plays one of three different songs.  Zach loves the toy and smiles when he hears it play.  One day we are setting up his play mat and Chelsea asks me to get his Giraffe toy.  I replied puzzled, what Giraffe toy?  She says the one with the giraffe in the hot air balloon. I kindly explain that it is a cow not a giraffe, because of it's big nose; she agrees and life goes on.  Three days later she decides, while in Wal-Mart, "I think I am going to decide that it is a giraffe and not a cow."  What?!  Your going to decide?! No one can just change reality, it's not possible!  But she did change reality!!
     From that point on we began asking random people to identify the animal in the hot air balloon.  First was the Wal-Mart cashier, he studies the animal ponders and replies, "I have never seen a yellow cow so that is a giraffe."  Seriously!  A giraffe!!  Next thing I know we are taking pictures of it with our phone and sending it to all our family asking them to identify the animal pictured.  Wouldn't you know it, people begin to respond that it is a Giraffe, Moose (Misty my sister), Arthur the Aardvark (Colby my brother-in-law), and a Jay Hawk (my father-in-law).  Let me say if it was a Jay Hawk I would burn it in the mouth of an active volcano then break my own leg for purchasing it for my Wildcat son!!
    I decide to end this and pull a play from the Modern Family play book, I call the manufacturer.  Unable to take my call, I leave a message.  The weekend continues in the same pattern, we ask everyone we meet what type of animal it is and 70% reply that it is a giraffe, 15% say cow, 15% some other creature.  Even my Mom who loves giraffes says it's a giraffe.  Yet I am still convinced that ever one is wrong!  Finally Monday morning I get the call from the manufacturer and sure enough Chelsea has changed reality, it is a giraffe.  I humbly text her and admit defeat.  I can't believe I was wrong, I can't believe I pushed the issue either.
     I will say this though, when Chelsea is right she doesn't gloat and on the rare occasion that she is wrong she admits it.  Yet I still try to challenge here in a losing battle.  So there is no such thing as the little guy winning or the underdog arising in triumph.  Also if you want reality to change, have Chelsea make the decision and it seems the universe will adjust to her view.