I almost blew it!

My grand daughters, ages 6 and 4, love tictacs.

I keep them in a kitchen drawer and in my truck and when ever they come over they raid the tictac drawer.

I keep telling them that they aren't candy. They're for the purpose of keeping your breath fresh, but that doesn't matter.

They pop them in their mouths like candy anyway.

A couple of days ago, one of the girls said she was going to put it under her pillow and pretend it was a tooth.

I told her that would sure fool her mommy.

MOMMY!", she yelled. "Don't you mean the tooth fairy!?"

Oops! I told her yes I meant the tooth fairy. It was just a slip.

They both seemed to buy it...for now.

I'm going to have to be more careful.

Ah, the (not so) Good Old Days!

Last night Sandi and I were reminded of an aspect of parenting that although ending happily was not very pleasant to experience.

Jen and Pete had to rush Cole to the hospital because of breathing difficulties.

The trip to the hospital in the cool air seemed to work its magic because Cole was breathing better by the time they got there.

Nevertheless, these kinds of experiences are what test parents.

Sandi and I went through an almost identical scenario with Peter when Peter was just about Cole's age.

Same trip. Same hospital. Same end result.

But who ever it was who said "all's well that ends well" was probably not a parent.

The experience left us with a couple of more wrinkles and a few more gray hairs.

Now that I think of it, grand parenting can be trying too!

Growing Up In the Digital Age

They say kids are more comfortable with technology than adults.

Well, here's more evidence. Two little boys, ages 3 years and 1.5 years, playing with grandma's iPad.

They already know where to put their fingers and how to play the games.

But that's nothing. You should see their cousins, Brooke age 6 & Courtney age 4. They need no help whatever.

They are completely comfortable with the iPad, their father's iPhone and my iMac.

As you can see our family is partly responsible for Apple Corporation's unbelievable success.

That's fine. I have no problem with that. The kids are having a ball. And, like older cousin Brooke, three of them will hit the ground running when they get to school

Mud Slingers, Beware!

The results of several polls have just been released. The one-time tenuous lead Richard Blumenthal had over Linda McMahon is now into two digits.

Clearly, in spite of Blumenthal's problems with the Viet Nam thing, he is preferred to McMahon.

Why? Simple. As I predicted, McMahon's mud slinging and dirty campaigning are coming back to bite her.

Go back to your wrestling ring, Linda. You're not fit to be a United States Senator.

Wingnuts!

This election year is noteworthy if for no other reason than the number of 'wingnuts' who are running for important seats.

The first that comes immediately to mind is Connecticut's own Linda McMahon. A very close second is Delaware's Christine O'Donnell.

But there are more--a lot more.

To get a sense for how things have deteriorated, I would direct your attention to a great website. It's thedailybeast.com.

What's really scary is that some of these people are actually going to get elected.

Lord help us!

Go Figure!

I spent the afternoon today with Cole & Nicholas. These two little boys have lots of stuff. They have a big yard, all sorts of toys, slides, swings, bicycles, etc.

Yet, in spite of all of that, their favorite thing to do is play in the back of my pickup.

They pick up little sticks and drop them between the bed and cab or they run around or they lean over the side and laugh.

Clever little things, aren't they?

My Monday With Courtney

Yesterday before Courtney and I headed out to Story Hour at the library she went to the bathroom.

As she was going through the door, I reached down and picked off a sticker that had stuck to her backside

She immediately whirled around and scolded me for 'sneaking up on her and touching her.' She then asked how I'd like it if someone did that to me.

I told her I would want someone to pick a sticker off of me before headed out but she wasn't buying it.

I duly apologized and promised there'd be no more sneaking up on her.

Life with Courtney. Every Monday.