Muffins For Mom.

I took Little Suzy to the annual "Muffins For Moms" before-school get together at Suzy's elementary school. Mommy couldn't go and I didn't want Suzy to feel left out, so I was surrogate mom. When I got to the table with the food, I asked for 2/3 of a bran muffin with flax seed and a mineral water with a twist of lemon. No one laughed. I was planning on going dressed in a flannel shirt and hiking boots, but my wife threatened to kick the crap out of me if I dressed like that. Good thing, it appears the economic depression has finally gotten to every one's sense of humor.

If I'm dryer than I am funny, here's Betty White on SNL/NPR's "Delicious Dish". Now that's funny. Enjoy your weekend.

Gracie's Birthday.

My neighbor, Union Jack says, "I don't understand people that humanize pets. Yes, pets are part of the family but pets are still animals." I understand Union Jack's point.

Candy was born at the Beagle Barn, near Joliet, IL on March 13, 2007. At the time, Mario was 7, just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and Little Suzy was barely 3. We chose a beagle for a beagle's size and temperament with kids. We chose a purebred over a shelter dog because given our kids, we needed a dog of certain lineage. We chose The Beagle Barn because the pups were raised in the house, around a family with a family's foibles. We wanted a dog because given my Aspie's inability to make friends we wanted Mario to have a best friend. Candy was "Mario's dog" but Mommy always wanted a dog named Gracie. Mario decided we should name our dog Gracie, but retain Gracie's birth name Candy as Gracie's middle name. That's how Gracie Candy Silver became a part of our family.

Gracie slept thru the 1st night at our house and has been sleeping through the night ever since. Whenever the kids come home from school, Gracie greets the kids audibly and doesn't stop until the kids say hi to her. Gracie has been licking my face and head since her 2nd day with us and hasn't stopped (except for meals and naps). As Mario has gotten older, Gracie has taken to giving Mario a frequent tonguebath as well. Most importantly Gracie has been and continues to be Mario's best friend.

I agree with Union Jack that it's silly for people to humanize pets. Still, we have to hold off Gracie's birthday party until Saturday. Tomorrow isn't a school day for Gracie, but it is for the kids.

Happy Birthday (and many, many more), Gracie.

Spring Forward.

This Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 2:00 AM most of the USA will begin Daylight Saving Time. The process of advancing timepieces one hour actually saves nothing, but it does arrange for an additional hour of daylight in the late afternoon/evening. This extra hour of daylight facilitates outdoor activities as the temperatures approaches temperate. Still daylight savings also brings some challenges. For example:

source: morgueFile

• Those above over the age of (fill in the blank) have more trouble adjusting to the biannual hour shift each year. The additional usable hour of daylight is offset by a feeling of post-intoxication for multiple days.
• Little Suzy has to catch her school bus before 7 AM daily. It's been nice going to the bus stop at daybreak the last two weeks. Not anymore.
• Since Little Suzy has to get up very early she needs to go to bed early. During the last few weeks of the school year, I have the privilege of putting her to bed while it's still daylight and her peers are still outside. This will again ruin my hopes of Suzy nominating me for "Father Of The Year", a streak that remains unbroken.

Still, I like daylight saving time if only because it is a first harbinger of spring and warmer weather. Enjoy the weekend, spring is almost here.

Old Business Revisited.

Are You Ready?

I posted in September about the national embarrassment of a local Green Bay affiliate not covering President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress in lieu of the pregame coverage of the opening game of the NFL season. In order to avoid the same "schedule conflict" the NFL and the Democratic National Committee have put their heads together (I fear without the resounding loud crack that would have been so satisfying). The NFL will begin the 2012 championship season on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 to avoid President Obama's to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, September 6, 2012. The fact that this shift is even news is troubling. Still a small victory is a victory nonetheless.

No 'Bots About It.

I posted in mid-February about the plethora of pornbots on Twitter and Tabitha Fung's campaign to get pornbots banned from Twitter. The pornbots have adapted. The latest generation have an account with tweets containing an innocuous quote, but the link in the description is always porn. If you haven't signed the petition yet, please lend your support.

Stretching My Legs.

I posted in January about my commitment to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's "Walk Across Illinois" program. It became apparent immediately that my normal day to day walking would complete this challenge by August. Not only isn't that much of a challenge, it doesn't really do anything additional for my good health. As so often happens, life circumstances provide an answer.

We found out from Little Suzy's pediatrician that Little Suzy's weight was out of ratio with her height, enough to require action. So now, when Suzy comes home from  school we go for a walk, weather and schedule permitting. Suzy has even joined the"Walk Across Illinois" challenge with me. So far, we've walked 5 miles together, leaving 162 miles to complete the challenge. That's not a lot of miles walked, but it's still winter in the Midwest.

Thank You.

Thanks for spending to take some time to read my little blog. Let me know what you think and have a great weekend.

ROL: Confirm Terms.

ROL (Return On Life) is a soft measurement for lifestyle comparable to the hard marketing measurement, ROI (Return on Investment). ROL addresses small or simple life changes that can greatly improve quality of life. This week's ROL is about speaking the same language.

Saturday Stuff.

I had a long to-do list for last Saturday. The primary item on Saturday's to-do list was to take Little Suzy to the library to get a biography for an oral book report. Usually, when I have to take Little Suzy somewhere, Mario (my son) prefers to stay home for unfettered Wii and all things Mario (the plumber). I always ask Mario if he wants to come with, knowing the answer is usually no. Much to my surprise, Mario said "OK, We're going to the public library, right?" "Yes, Mario. We're going to the public library".

Not That Library.

I briefed the kids about a stop at Big Box Mart before going the library. When we arrived at Big Box Mart, Mario said "Dad, I don't want to go in. Can I start walking and meet you at the library?".
"Mario, the library is 5 miles away. You can't walk to the library.", I replied.
     Mario responded, "NO, the library is just down the street."
"Mario, we're going to the library on 2nd Street.", I answered.

North Suburban Branch Library, Loves Park, IL

     Angrily, Mario said, "YOU said we were going to the public library. The library on 2nd Street is the North Suburban Library."
"Mario, they're all public libraries. The library on 2nd Street is the North Suburban Branch of the public library.", I answered.
    Mario ended the conversation, "Maybe, but that's not what the sign says."
OK, But That's Not The Library You Said.
The whole public library/North Suburban Library conversation may seem like minutiae, but Mario has Asperger's Syndrome.  Aspies are very literal and often inflexible, so to an Aspie, the North Suburban Library is significantly different than the public library. These seemingly insignificant differences can end a day or waste many hours for an Aspie. On this Saturday, Mario rose above it all (after 5 minutes).  A successful library trip and a good day was had by all.

Lesson Learned.

This is a wonderful lesson Aspies can teach the non-Aspie enabled world. It's easy to assume everyone is talking about the same thing, even with simple terms. Simple terms don't necessarily mean similar and certainly don't mean the same terms. Little differences can have major implications and turn good exchanges bad. Taking a moment to confirm terms keeps life simpler and more enjoyable.

Do you have any examples of finding out something you said was heard differently than it was intended? How did everything turn out?

ROL: Do Something.

ROL (Return On Life) is about engaging in small incremental changes that can have a large positive impact on living life. ROL is a non-quantitative adaptation of the financial measure ROI (return on investment). This week's ROL is about doing something.

Little Suzy brought a flyer home from school yesterday. As with most school flyers, Suzy said, "Mommy, Daddy I want to do this." The flyer had the details about "Jump Rope For Heart".

source: Heart Foundation

Little Suzy is blessed with my intelligence (that's a good thing usually) and my dexterity (that's a good thing rarely). I doubt Suzy can jump rope for 10 minutes or 10 turns, whichever comes first. Also, neither myself nor my wife come from a large family, so there aren't many potential sponsors in our inner circle. And none of that matters.

Both Mommy and I are 100% in with Little Suzy being involved with "Jump Rope For Heart." The understanding of doing something for others is great to learn at an early age. The good feelings that come along with helping others is secondary. On top of it all, Suzy's doctor has prescribed regular exercise to offset Suzy's taste for empty carbs, another inheritance from me. So Suzy's participation in "Jump Rope For Heart" is win/win. Doing something for others usually is win/win.

What's Up Doc?

Friday was Daddy-Daughter Home With Head Colds Day. Little Suzy was limited to laying on the couch and watching TV. Saturday was a home day. On Sunday, Little Suzy and Mommy ventured out for a bit, but not too long so Suzy was well rested for school on Monday.

When I picked up Suzy from school on Monday, Little Suzy had that nasal sound when a cold is draining. Suzy also complained of a sore throat. Tuesday morning, Suzy's throat was so sore she could barely eat. Suzy asked for another day off school. I agreed to her request. I also decided to take Suzy to the local treatment center when it opened at 5 PM.

source: morgueFile.com

 Suzy and I arrived at the treatment center about 4:50 PM. Luckily, there were only 6 people ahead of us. We waited our turn and were called into the doctor at 5:45 PM. Doc did a once-over and took a quick culture to test for strep throat. Culture was negative and Suzy was dismissed with a prescription for cough medicine with codeine and advice to take ibuprofen every six hours.

One thing, though. When Doc wanted to check Suzy's throat, he didn't explain about the tongue depressor. And when Doc went to take the throat culture, he again failed to prepare Suzy. As we left the treatment center, Suzy protested that her throat felt worse than when we arrived at the treatment center.

Suzy's regular pediatrician is soft spoken and warns Suzy before he does anything. The treatment center Doc was also a pediatrician, yet failed to warn Suzy about anything. I hope treatment center Doc has a better manner with the other kids.

Have you ever had a medical (or other) service provider fail to thoroughly explain procedures? How did you feel when that happened? Would you recommend that provider in the future?

Gifts, Memories and Today.

source: Amazon

As I posted previously, Chanukah with my family was rather disjointed due to a 2 week contract for me. We finally exchanged gifts as a family (Mommy, Mario, Little Suzy, Gracie the wonder beagle and me) on New Years Day. I scored a major haul. Texting gloves (for texting while driving in cold weather), a tripod for my smart phone (hello, vlogging) a huge bag of Belly Flops (all the flavors, all the calories, a fraction of the price) and the Tom Lehrer collection (including a DVD of a concert from Oslo, hopefully subtitled).

Matt Jaffe

I was turned on to Tom Lehrer in junior high by Matt Jaffe (if you enjoy hiking, check out Matt at about.com). We spent hours listening to That Was The Year That Was. I even went with Matt and his family to see Tom Lehrer for a McGovern fundraiser. In retrospect, McGovern needed a vote raiser. I understood much (not all) of Lehrer's context and the time spent with Matt and Tom certainly shaped who I am today.

As I was listening to the CD yesterday, I realized that Mario is the same age I was when I started listening to Tom Lehrer. I know Mario wouldn't listen to Tom Lehrer with me. Mario is very young for his age and being an Aspie, Mario can't share my sense of humor. I know Mario picks up on household values from our conversations. Still I am concerned about how Mario will shape his views on the world around him. Friends help kids with defining themselves (especially during those years when parents know nothing) and being an Aspie, Mario has no friends. Finally I know there are no simple answers and things work out. Still, I can't help but worry.

Any recent gifts that bring up old memories? Any worries about your kids that you like to think you can change, but really can't change?

Done Something Right.

As Christmas Day became Boxing Day, Little Suzy wandered into the big bedroom. "Daddy, I lost a tooth." Even in my sleep induced stupor, I knew the Tooth Fairy was grounded as Christmas Eve morphed into Christmas Day . Santa Claus needs uncluttered airspace. I wasn't sure if the Tooth fairy worked on Dec. 26th when Christmas occured on Sunday; different unions have different contracts. I did know I didn't want to get out of bed. "Suzy, are you OK?". "I'm fine Daddy", Suzy answered. "Leave the tooth on your dresser. We'll take care of this in the morning."

source: morgueFile.com

As I was getting ready to leave in the morning, I ran into Little Suzy coming out of her bedroom.
     "Suzy, I'm sorry I didn't do anything with your tooth last night. I was very tired."
"That's okay Daddy. I left the Tooth Fairy a note. Do you want to know what I asked for?"
     "Only if you want to tell me Suzy."
"I asked for $200 for both you and Mommy. I know you could use the help."

Somewhere in this crazy and unsure thing called parenthood (friendship? life?) Mommy and I must have done something right.

Savor The Moment.

Last night was Little Suzy's Holiday Program at school. Given the season, most of the girls and some of the boys came dressed in their best. If you've been in the stores you've seen the way girls clothes appear to be categorized: infant, preschool, little girl, big girl, adult. Suzy is transitioning from little girl to big girl. Big girl runs from 8 yrs. old to early/mid teenager.  Suzy was still happy to wear a little girl "party" dress. That was a big relief for me and mommy. It seems the next dress we will be getting for Little Suzy is a strapless cocktail dress and I'm not ready for that.

We brought Little Suzy a rose for her performance. I wonder if the rose was actually for us, as a reminder to smell the roses.

Robbed At Church.

Those expecting a rambling anti-religion screed will be disappointed. Denizens of organized Christianity are not only heroes of this post; these fine people serve as a shining example of customer service to money hungry materialists everywhere. The title refers to the theft of Little Suzy's coat while we volunteered at a local church this past Saturday.

Why Was I At Church?

14 months ago a friend referred me to the NonWorking Networkers of Westminster Presbyterian Church.   The Networkers are an all-sectarian group, part of the church's outreach. The Networkers group has provided emotional and physical sustenance to me and my family. One of the Networkers activities is to join the church in packing food for Christmas for local needy. The packages are picked up and distributed by Rockford area social service agencies. This year I brought Little Suzy with me to help pack.

It's Good To Help.

Packing started at 8 AM, coffee and doughnuts at 7:30 AM.  We arrived at 7:40 AM. Little Suzy was excited about packing food for the needy and really, really excited to begin with a doughnut. Suzy is too young for coffee (and I'm a coffee snob/sissy) so we brought our own drinks, hot cocoa and a mocha.

At 8 AM the chairperson, Sadie, gave a brief overview of the packing procedure. Both hands are necessary for the assembly line so I ducked out and put the mugs Little Suzy and I had brought on the shelf over our coats. Pastor Pasteur offered an invocation and the packing began.

Daddy, Where Is My Coat?

Westminster has run this project for a number of years so the packing went quickly. In under an hour 300 packages were assembled and it was time to go home. Suzy and I went to get our coats, but Suzy's coat was gone. We both looked in all sections of the coat area, but the coat wasn't anywhere. While looking for Suzy's coat, I heard another woman describing her purse which was apparently stolen, too.

I found Sadie and told her about Suzy's missing coat. She apologized profusely and took my name and a description of the coat. Suzy and I returned to the packing area to wait, in case someone had accidentally put on Suzy's coat. While waiting, Pastor Pasteur found Suzy and me. Pastor Pasteur apologized and made sure the church knew how to reach me.  As more people left the church, it was obvious the coat would not reappear. Suzy and I looked through all the coat areas one more time but didn't find her coat. I put my coat on Suzy (tried for a picture but as a young clothes horse Suzy wasn't buying) and we drove home.

The Day Improves.

We got home, told Mario and I texted Mommy at work. Suzy kept it together at Westminster, but once home the tears flowed. Little Suzy was a bit overwhelmed by her coat getting stolen, from a church, while packing food for the needy. I explained that someone must have really needed that coat and Suzy accepted the explanation. Suzy and I settled in.  I figured we would be going for a winter coat when Mommy's work day concluded.

Within the hour the house phone rang. It was Sadie arranging to deliver a gift card to replace Suzy's coat. While talking to Sadie, the head of the Nonworking Networkers called my cell phone to tell me the church wants to replace Suzy's coat. In the ensuing conversation, it was obvious that at least two people from the church wanted to arrange for Suzy's coat. I made sure the church Deacons weren't duplicating effort and made arrangements to pick up the gift card from Sadie as our house was not receiving guests on Saturday. Before Suzy and I reach the car to go to Sadie,  the friend that had sent me to the Nonworking Networkers called for Little Suzy. Our friend wanted to apologize to Little Suzy for the theft of her coat and make sure Little Suzy wasn't overwhelmed by the experience. Suzy had made peace with the theft of her winter coat and how could she be overwhelmed with so many people working to make things right?

The Coat.

When we arrived at Sadie's, Sadie had the gift card and a pair of peace sign earrings. The earrings were the perfect size for Suzy's ears and Little Suzy loves peace signs. Mommy took Suzy to Kohls (biggest sale of the season) and was able to get her the exact same coat. Grandma and Grandpa told Mommy to get a backup coat, on them. Upon hearing the story of the stolen coat, the clerk at Old Navy took 10% off the purchase of the back up jacket Grandma and Grandpa bought. Back at home, Suzy modeled both coats and started talking about going back to Westminster next year to pack Christmas food packages.

Lessons.

If you have ever chaired a major project you understand the adrenaline rush to completion and the ensuing crash when finished. Once the project is over you either want to unplug or write the evaluation then unplug. Sadie on her own behalf and that of the church didn't do that. Once Sadie and Pastor Pasteur had overseen the distribution of the food packages to the various social service agencies, they checked the church once more for Suzy's winter coat. Then Sadie bought a gift card, found my phone number and put the rest of day on hold while waiting for me to pick up the card. Sadie also found the earrings, providing immediate gratification for Suzy.

Have you ever been on hold for 35 minutes reporting an outage to Comcast (or pick a company)? After you lose service for 3 1/2 hours ever had Comcast reduce your bill by $1.37 but only because you stayed on hold another 35 minutes the next day? Do you think Comcast (or pick a company) could learn a thing or fifty from Sadie and the hierarchy of Westminster Presbyterian Church?

Thank You.

I was reminded of a couple of lessons by Sadie's reaction to the theft of Suzy's coat.

• For every creepy story that gets tagged to organized religion, there is at least one good story left untold. So I told this story.
• When you think something is the right thing to do, the right time to do the right thing is right now. It may still be right to do the right thing tomorrow, but it's righter to do the right thing today.

Suzy is writing a thank you note to the church Deacons. I guess I just wrote a thank you note, too.

Thankful Every Day.

We got a call from Mario's pediatric neurologist in November, 2004. Mario's head CT didn't look right (Mario was still having a terrible time potty training at 5 1/2, so everything was being reviewed).  We were referred to a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Standish, at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

It's All In His Head.

source: morgueFile

Dr. Standish is kind and soft-spoken. Dr. Standish doesn't own a TV. If you have to see a pediatric neurosurgeon it's comforting to know he's not staying up late, hooked on "Survivor". Dr. Standish pulled up the CT and showed us a blob in Mario's frontal lobe. Dr. Standish believed the blob to be an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Mario was asymptomatic and with the neurosurgery suite at Children's being upgraded, Mario would not be scheduled until renovations of the suite were finished. Dr. Standish expected to call us with a late January, early February date. As it turned out, Mario didn't get scheduled until April, 2005.

The Day Finally Arrives.

Dr. Standish wasn't sure if surgery was required or even possible. CT scans are a big improvement over 2 dimensional X-Rays, but CT scans don't show everything. So we took young Little Suzy to Grandma and Grandpa, packed a weeks worth of stuff (Dr. Standish told us normal recovery time from brain surgery was about a week as a inpatient) into the Caravan and headed to Children's Memorial Hospital.

Good News.

We arrived at the hospital and went through the normal check-in procedure. After a while, the staff carted Mario to the neurosurgery suite and Mommy and I went to the cafeteria for a little sustenance. Mommy and I checked in at the OR waiting room after a short breakfast and settled in for what we expected to be a long day. I hadn't read more than two pages when the radiologist struts in all gowned up, looking for us. "Good news", he says. "It's not an AVM. Dr. Standish will explain in detail, but what Mario has doesn't require surgery. There is a small chance the artery could rupture so we will have to monitor the artery annually (now biennially). Mario will have to lay on his back for six hours and spend the night here, but you can all go home tomorrow morning." Mommy and I exhaled, got Mario through the six hour lay down, spent the night at Children's and we all went home the next morning.

Post Script Surprise.

I hadn't told many people about Mario's pending surgery, but there will still a few phone calls of joy to make. Mommy and I each called our sides of the family. I called our Rabbi and then I called Godfrey, the best man at my wedding. "Godfrey", I said, "Good news. No surgery for Mario."  "Hey Barry", Godfrey interjected, "I can't stay on the phone long. I'm at Evanston Hospital. Hortense (Godfrey's wife) is in surgery. Seems she has necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria). The doctors were able to stop the spread and now they are removing a small amount of dead tissue from Hortense's hip. Can we talk tomorrow?" Necrotizing fasciitis is so rare that it is often diagnosed too late to save a patient's life. So on that day in April, 2005 I could have left the hospital (after Mario's surgery) to arrange a funeral for my best man's wife. Instead I took my son home the next day and after getting Mario home, called Godfrey to talk about the Cubs.

It Can Always Be Worse.

Since that day in April, 2005, I've had good days, crazy days, quiet days, happy days, sad days and tough days. But since that April day, I've never had a bad day. That's why I'm thankful every day.

From me and mine I want to wish you and yours

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Weekend Magazine: Reading Is Fundamental.

November 19, 2011

Little Suzy gets her library card.

Everything Old Is...Just Old.

The last couple of weeks have been nice. I've had the chance to spend time with Little Suzy. Halloween, Doughnuts for Dads and just hanging out with Play-Doh has been really good. Suzy is on the express for eight years old. Mario was different (I know they're all different) at seven,  with the ensuing Asperger's diagnosis just down the road.

source: Wikipedia

Saturday, Suzy was doing her Play-Doh thing at the kitchen table while I was cutting vegetables for crock-pot stew. T.V. was in a time-out due to a joint venture between Suzy and Mario. I took the opportunity to indulge and queued up "Beatles For Sale". The boys hadn't even reached the bridge in "No Reply" when Suzy said, "Dad, why don't you play music kids like, like the stuff on Bob-FM." Bob-FM is the local we're so cool we play whatever we want format station.
     I said, "Suzy, they play the Beatles on Bob-FM".
Suzy said, "No they don't."
     "Suzy", I said, "Everything they play on Bob-FM started with the Beatles".
Suzy said, "No it didn't".
At that point I stopped talking and enjoyed the music.  Later, Little Suzy said, "Eight Days A Week doesn't make sense. Everyone knows there are only seven days in a week." At that point my head blew up.

I realize Suzy is still too young to understand that much of what we see, feel and hear is based on what others have seen, felt and heard before us. I assume as Little Suzy grows, she will gain perspective. Then again, she might subject her kids to the musical stylings of "Lemonade Mouth."

Life Lesson Jujutsu.

Had a quite an interesting conversation with Little Suzy this morning. Actually, it wasn't much of a conversation. I snarled, she cried. I know I won the battle but I'm not sure about the war.

Safety First.

I'm not an absolutist (not talking vodka loyalty here) on almost everything. Some might think it's crazy the way I view proper car seating. My son, Mario is thin. He remained in a booster seat until age 10 due to height and weight recommendations. It'll be the same with Little Suzy. Once in a while when traveling with a relative or school friend parent, the kids were able to ride in the back seat without a booster. Never in the front seat. In preschool, the Septran driver had Little Suzy in the front seat. That arrangement survived exactly one trip.

An Elephant (and Little Suzy) Never Forgets.

Source: morgueFile

6:35 this morning. Little Suzy and I exit the front door for the car. I accompany Little Suzy to her bus stop one block away. During inclement weather (rainy days and mid-October through mid-May inclusive) I drive her and we wait in the car for the school bus. Call me an environmental terrorist if you will; I get called worse names when I revoke dessert privileges for the kids. This morning there was one minor snafu.

Post a mid summer garage sale there are donation items stored in the garage. This week is dedicated to taking said donations to donation sites thus making the garage more conducive to parking cars in the winter. Both rows of  back seats are folded down in the Rondo to expedite making fewer trips to the donation center.

"Hey, Suzy. You're going to have to sit in the front." 

     "No Daddy, I sit in the middle row."

"Suzy, the seats are folded down. Just sit in the front."

     "Daddy, I don't want Mommy to be upset."

"Suzy, Mommy won't be upset. Get in the car."

     "Daddy, I'd rather walk to the bus stop."

"Suzy, It's 6:35 AM. It's dark, damp and windy. I am not standing out in this weather."

     "But, Daddy..."

The conversation had 2 or 3 more exchanges but you get the idea. I prevailed and Little Suzy got in the car (and on the school bus) crying. Cancel my "Dad of the Year" nomination.

Post-Game.

• Was it the greatest parent decision? No. A great decision would have been to spend the time folding up the seat for Suzy and then folding down the seat to cart donations. I wasn't spending more time on seat folding than on driving to and from the bus stop. 
• Suzy being OK with pissing me off to not upset Mommy? That's okay. Suzy loves me like a daughter but make no mistake, Suzy is Mommy's girl. 
• Suzy remembering about not sitting in the front seat but forgetting about listening to Daddy? Suzy is just getting us both ready for the teen years. 
• Me and Suzy? We're fine. It'll be forgotten by time she gets home from school. For a little added incentive, I'll have a snack ready and make chili (a Suzy favorite) for dinner tomorrow. 

And life goes on.