Something I've never seen before

My husband's chin! Apparently, this was his twisted idea of an early anniversary gift. (I'm kidding!) Here's what happened:

Sunday night, DH accidentally shaved off half of his goatee. No, I'm not making that up; it was an accident. See, he uses a beard trimmer to keep it, well, trimmed. It has a guard that he has to put on to adjust the length that it is trimmed to. Recently, he has begun doing his trimming and shaving while Luke takes a bath. Soap him down, then shave/trim while Luke plays in the water. Apparently, Luke was being rather distracting by splashing a lot (and making a mess on the bathroom floor) when DH began trimming his goatee. Only being distracted, he forgot to put the guard on it and didn't realize it until half his chin was cold!

He called me upstairs, saying he needed my assistance and opinion on a matter. I was within 100 pages of finishing my re-read of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and he knew that!), so I knew he would not have interrupted me if it were not important. I could not even imagine what it was, though, and I was even more concerned when he said it didn't involve the still-splashing child. Frankly, I didn't even notice. I was too busy looking around the bedroom and the bathroom, trying to figure out what was wrong. I even looked at him and didn't notice. (Hey, it was only half-gone, and the other half was still scruffy, not cleanly shaved, and I was looking him in the eye!) Then he pointed at his chin, and I just burst out laughing.

And I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I laughed until my stomach literally ached, tears were rolling down my face, and it was all I could do to stay standing. (I'm still snickering about it, actually.) He kept asking me what was so funny, and the only answer I had for him was "I don't know." I have no idea why it was (is) so funny. Shock, maybe? Both that he could do such a thing, especially by accident, and shock at seeing his chin after all these years.

He grew his moustache and goatee as an upper classman in high school because he was tired of looking so young, well over a year before he and I ever met. And (until Sunday night) he had never shaved it off since then. So, in the almost 13 years that we have known each other, I've had no idea what his chin looked like. (Hey Mom, it has a small dimple! (My mom has a thing for chin dimples.)) Can't really say if it looks like Luke's or not yet. I think we'll have to wait for Luke to get older, since that is really when a man's face starts taking on such characteristics. At least if a dimple appears, I'll now know where it came from.

DH didn't (and doesn't) think this is very funny. He's not super-mad about it or anything, but I can't say he's overly happy either, especially since I still have to fight a smile when I look at him (which he *certainly* doesn't think is funny, though he does usually end up laughing as well; whether with me or at me, I cannot say). It will probably take at least 3-4 weeks (if not longer) for it to grow back. He actually went back in and not only shaved his chin clean, but shaved off his moustache as well. He said he figured this was the closest he will ever get to doing it, so it was now or never (and that I should take a picture, because I would never see it again!). Now that *really* shocked me and, for some reason, isn't nearly as funny. I really thought he would just leave it scruffy (it will get scruffy at some point, why not now?), and I never would have dreamed he'd shave off the moustache along with it, since it was completely unscathed. Given that it has been nearly 15 years since he actually took a razor to his chin or his upper lip, I'm surprised he didn't slice them off! And we wouldn't want that. Now that I've actually seen it, I can say for sure that it is a very cute chin.... (snicker)

We were afraid Luke would react badly when we picked him up from daycare on Monday, but he did fine. (DH didn't shave cleanly or remove his moustache until after Luke was in bed Sunday night, and I take Luke to daycare in the morning, so he hadn't seen the end result yet.) I remember hearing stories of my cousin seeing her father without his beard for the first time around age three. She burst into tears and started screaming "that's not my daddy!" Thankfully, nothing so dramatic for Luke. He hardly seems to have noticed.

But as fun(ny) as this has all been, I'll be glad when it has grown back. He just doesn't look like my husband of practically 9 years (as of tomorrow) without them.

Before:


And after:


Currently feeling: still trying to repress the giggles