When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Blog-onade

This week, the kids were in the car on their way to school. They buckled themselves but Belle, 6, didn't close her door on the sedan all the way. When Belle's mom pulled out of the garage, the door flung open and speared the side of the garage! The glass shattered and there was $2,000 worth of damage.

"Oops," Belle said.

Fortunately, everyone was OK. When my wife called me, I was taking my mother to the hospital for surgery out of town. I told my mom that the car v. garage accident was "All part of our elaborate plan to make you forget about your surgery!"

"It worked," my mom said.

We hired people to fix the car and the garage door, but I got creative fixing the drywall in the garage--I simply used one of Belle's stuffed animals for insulation:

We're expecting an energy-efficiency rebate from Uncle Sam any day now.

Today, my son John, 4, wore his black pirate hat and took out his telescope and declared, "Argh, I'm a pirate."

"OK, Pirate John," my wife said.

"Don't call me pirate--my name is John," he said.

"Do you have to go potty, John?" my wife said.

"Pirates don't go potty," John said.

"Do they wet their pants?" I asked. No wonder they had so many diseases.

"No," John said. "They sit down and say, 'Man overboard!'"

I'd hate to be in the row boat when that happens.

While I'm sure Belle would have LOVED to make her brother walk the plank, she was too busy being Rudolph and trying to perform a timeless Christmas carol. But even that went awry:

It was a tough week--dealing with a surgery, a car crash, home damage, a pirate who won't go potty and deer with a droopy nose--but we made the most of it. It's good to see the kids picking up on this outlook. For example, Belle's friend was sucking on ice from her drink. Belle said, "What are you doing?"

"Sucking ice," the friend said.

"Oh, OK," Belle said. "I won't tell anyone you suck."


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