The secret to getting a kid to read

Madeline started reading the Harry Potter books when she was in second grade. By the time she was into third grade, she had read them all. Great job, Madeline!!!

Quinn had started them earlier but wasn't ready to spend the time needed to read them all until Madeline started catching up. Then he drove himself, staying up late to read to make sure that he stayed ahead of Madeline and finshed them ahead of her. Yea, Quinn!!!

The secret to getting a kid to read: have a younger sibling ready to get ahead of him or her.

Nate's quick thinking

Kathleen and I (Mike) had been visiting Redmond/Seattle, Washington for about two and a half weeks. We had been living with Tom, Yee, Nate (6), and Tee (2). We were leaving on Sunday. On Saturday, I walked into Nate's bedroom about 10AM.

Nate: "Where are you going?"

Me: "Nana and I are going to visit Matt and Cori."

Nate: "Why are you going to do that?"

Me: "Because he's our son and we want to see them again before we leave."

Nate thought for less than a second: "Wouldn't you rather spend the entire day with your grandchildren?"

Me laughing: "Bye Nate. We'll be back later."

Hence reinforcing my often expressed opinion that little kids are inherently bandits.