Last week Aliya asked me “What does a sign mean when it has a ‘P’ with a circle and a line through it?” In a moment of evil amusement I told her it meant “No Peeing.” I don’t know what possessed me to say that because I normally answer her questions truthfully and explain things to her satisfaction without giving more than the required amount of details on the more sensitive topics.

We were driving home today and she blurted out, “Why would there be a ‘No Peeing’ sign in front of a house? Who would pee in someone’s driveway anyway??”

I felt a little guilty when I explained that I had just been kidding and that it meant “No Parking.”

In her most indignant voice she said, “So you thought it would be funny to allow me to believe the wrong thing for a whole week.”

Luckily, she didn’t tell her friends. 😉
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Framingham is being over-run by wild turkeys. We saw two the other day and while we were watching, one yanked a big fat worm out of the ground and gulped it down. Yum!!

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I saw this letter to Dear Abby this week and it struck a chord…

DEAR ABBY: I have been reading your column most of my adult life, but I don’t ever remember seeing any letters from people who are just afraid of life.

The world today is such a scary place. I have a small child who will have to grow up in this world, and sometimes the thought terrifies me. I hear about school shootings, dangerous gangs, religious leaders who are sex offenders, and I recently watched a report of six teenage girls beating another and videotaping it to post online.

How can parents feel safe raising our kids in a world this crazy and scary? I am trying to look for the positive in life, but, honestly, it gets harder and harder.

— MISSING THE OLD DAYS IN ARIZONA CITY

DEAR MISSING THE OLD DAYS: I agree, bad things do sometimes happen to good people. However, you can’t live your life as though the Hammer of Thor is about to strike you down, and if you maintain your fearful attitude, you could pass it along to your child.

While I can’t guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to you or anyone else, please allow me to remind you that the news media earn their income from magnifying the tragic, the scary and anything that deviates from the norm — whether it be a murder, a car wreck or a five-legged cow.

The time has come for you to turn off your television set, tune out talk radio, and take your child to a park, a playground, a zoo or any family outing. It’s a sure way to detoxify yourself from the negativity that has poisoned your outlook. Do it for two weeks, and I can almost guarantee you’ll feel better than you do today.
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Here are some more classic (and true!) Dear Abby letters:
http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/dearabby.asp

Dear Abby,

A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid-twenties. These two women go everywhere together and I’ve never seen a man go into or leave their apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

Dear Abby,

What can I do about all the Sex, Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence on my VCR?

Dear Abby,

I have a man I can’t trust. He cheats so much, I’m not even sure the baby I’m carrying is his.

Dear Abby,

I am a twenty-three year old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It’s getting expensive and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don’t know him well enough to discuss money with him.

Dear Abby,

I’ve suspected that my husband has been fooling around, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything – and said it would never happen again.

Dear Abby,

Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?

Dear Abby,

I joined the Navy to see the world. I’ve seen it. Now how do I get out?

Dear Abby,

My forty year old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy.

Dear Abby,

I was married to Bill for three months, and I didn’t know he drank until one night he came home sober.

Dear Abby,

My mother is mean and short tempered – I think she is going through mental pause.

Dear Abby,

You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well my husband lost all interest in sex – and he is a doctor. Now what do I do?
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Soccer in the rain, breakfast with Mom, a swimming lesson, a play date, dinner out with the Yarmaloffs, The End.
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A couple of weeks ago I unexpectedly had to take Norah to a birthday party for one of Adlani’s friends. Aside from the birthday boy’s little sister, all of the guests were 4-5 year old boys, so Norah had to wait until they were otherwise occupied to have her chance in the moonbounce. She loved it! It reminded me of Aliya’s first moonbounce experience at the Spencer Fair, where I had to go inside to get her when her time was up.
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Norah had a great time at the party…I’m not so sure about the birthday boy’s little sister. The Little Ninja is used to fighting for what she wants, so she carjacked the Cozy Coupe and took over at the sandbox. We need to work on her social skills a little.
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