It all started sometime last month.  We were just talking when my husband suddenly asked, “Hey Baby Doll, you know what I should ask Santa for in my stocking?  A can of tomato soup!” chuckling wryly to himself.  Our little one looked up at me for a response and I simply shook my head, rolling my eyes.  A couple of weeks later imagine his surprise:  on Christmas morning he excitedly reached for his stocking only to discover it contained a single can of tomato soup.  I could see the puzzled look on his face as he lifted his arm out while his eyes widened in shock.  So there he was in his pajamas quietly blinking in disbelief as he looked to me.  I lifted a brow, shrugged, and said, “I guess Santa gave you what you asked for.”  All of a sudden our eight year old broke into unbridled laughter.  It was infectious and I could not help but join in.  My sweet husband, being a good sport, started laughing ruefully as well.  I thought that was the end of it until I discovered the can in our mailbox on New Year’s Day.  Our little girl hooted and said Daddy must’ve put it there.  He was at work so I took the can and put it in his underwear drawer.  The next day I found it on top of my china cabinet.  Scrambling to retaliate, I put it in the box with his wallet.  I had thought our little game might have ended, but the following day our cleaning lady came up to me with a quizzical look and asked why there was a can of tomato soup on the windowsill in our laundry room.  Narrowing my eyes, I put it in his bookshelf.  He responded by placing it on top of my piano.  Someone suggested I put it in his car, so I let it ride in the passenger’s seat.  I did not even see it the next day until I had started my car.  I looked up and there it sat right on my dashboard in clear sight.  I then decided to put it in our shower caddy (pictured here) and we still had not said one word to each other about it.  The next day I noticed it was on our upstairs hallway chest near Saint Francis.  Just when I thought I was through with the Elf on the Shelf for a year I found myself looking for new places to hide the darn soup.  Currently it is nestled in a pair of his dress shoes which I trust will be found whenever he chooses to wear them to church.  The British novelist Howard Jacobson said, “You don’t remember people you love by the wise things they say but the silly things they do.”  I believe that to be true.  Daddy was always teasing Mama, and that is what I remember the most about him.  I am so glad our child is getting to see the same playful spirit my parents had with each other manifested through her father and me.  After all, what would life be without a soupçon of silliness?