Sunday, August 26, 2007

The Secret Handshake

About three years ago, our 9 yr old daughter McKenna told me she wanted to create a "secret handshake" with me. At first, I was like "whatever", but then I realized it was a chance to have a special thing with her that we could carry on for years and years.

The Handshake: A Brief History

Most people think that the handshake
has always been a cordial greeting,
but the some sources say the truth is the opposite.
The handshake supposedly originated when
opposing enemies came together for talks.

The second they would set aside their weapons,

they would grasp the other's arm to keep them
from picking up their weapons again.

This later evolved into a sign of trust and has passed on from
culture to culture, generation to generation,
to become the casual greeting it is today.

(My theory is that the warrior on the left still had significant leverage
and threw the other man into the nearby well, but I have no proof.)

(images stolen from the classic film short, "We Do It Because")

Anyway, now I have separate secret handshakes I do nightly with McKenna and our seven yr old son Sky. Maddie, our 5 yr old, likes to play pat-a-cake and call that our "secret handshake", but I know sometime soon, we'll come up with our own "real" shake.

I'm still working on our 14 yr old. No interest there yet. Maybe if I put on a viking helmet, he'll be into it?