The Skin of Our Teeth

Even when we had no money
We went to the theater

The wife would scream about it
But I made up my mind

Smart people go to the theater
And my kids were going to be smart people

So once a month
On a Sunday
We’d get dressed up
And go downtown
Just like the rich people

You know, the theater doesn’t know how much money you have
All it cares about is whether or not you can afford the ticket
And if you can
It says ‘Come right on in, and we’ll take it from here’

That’s why I liked it

And I liked knowing my kids
Weren’t going to grow up
Like the other morons
On the street

Instead they were sitting there
With their eyes wide open
Learning stuff

Hell if I know what it was they were learning
But it was something, I know that

Because the oldest one got A’s right up until she left for law school
And the younger one is pre-med
So there ya go

My wife says ‘Maybe we were just good parents’
But I tell her good parents can still raise bad kids

But our kids had theater
So that must have meant something right?

The last show we saw together
Was The Skin of Our Teeth
And I still remember looking down the row
At my little family
All lined up in our seats
All learning forward
Wondering what was going to happen next

Some people say you gotta eat dinner together as a family
Some say you should play board games
Some have lakehouses

Well I worked past dinner
And none of us liked board games
And a lakehouse was never something we could afford

But we could put together enough cash once a month
To go to the theater
So that’s what we did

And I’m telling you, folks
It was money well spent