My Cheap Dad: The Sitcom

Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers and to the Father Figures out there. Also, if you've lost your father, my heart goes out out to you on this day. 

Here are a few of my past Father's Day posts that I think are worth revisiting:

2020: Think Bigger with Dajuan Johnson (a father to "two tiny humans", an actor whom you've seen on Grey's Anatomy & Bosch, and a business owner) 

2019: My Dad and the Father Figures I've had in my life

2018: My Cheap Dad (and how to rewrite your money story)

That last one is what I'm writing about today. 

My dad is CHEAP. 

He knows it and actually loves it. 

As I mentioned in that blog post from 2018, he's always wanted me to sell a sitcom called "My Cheap Dad," just so he can tell everyone he meets..."That's me!"

So, as my Father's Gift to my dad this year...here's part of my pitch/narration for a scene for "My Cheap Dad":

Katy (that's me) is a Taiwanese Texan Teen. My brother and I are the only Asian Americans in an all-american school, focused mostly on Friday Night Lights (you know...football and cheerleading...).  Defying stereotype, my brother plays on the football team and is actually quite popular. 

Our Mom is NOT the typical Asian mother...the opposite of a Tiger Mom. She doesn't actually care about our grades, playing the piano or competition. She's more of a Hello Kitty Mom. She loves cute clothes, looking hipper than the teens at my school and often gets mistaken for our slightly older sister. 

Mom is a bit of a shopaholic, which drives Dad crazy because...well, he's Cheap with a Capital C. They don't agree on anything, except when it comes to going out to eat, especially on a Sunday afternoon, after church, at Spring Creek BBQ, where they bring freshly made rolls to your table constantly, there's all you can eat veggies and just on Sundays, they serve Blue Bell Ice Cream -- but only in vanilla. 

Each week, the drill was -- Mom would sit and hold a table for us, while Dad got ONE adult entree to share and my brother and I would get kids' entrees. 

When I turned 13, I had expected to get an adult entree because after all, we went to Spring Creek BBQ after church and doesn't the Bible teach us not to lie? 

But NOOOOOOOO. 

I was 5'6", had my period for at least a year now and wore a real bra (not just a training one) and still had to be counted as a "child."  

When my brother turned 13, it was even more embarrassing because he was 5'9" by then and the Meat Carver and Veggie Servers were looking UP at him...and you can tell that they were questioning whether we were really 12 and under. 

And while usually my dad's cheapness would embarrass my mother...lying to people about our ages did not. Why? Because it would always make her seem younger too, so it would be cost-effective for my father and age-defying for my mother. 

I think we stayed 12 until we went off to college! 

With Gratitude,