The sign says...

In some ways, we're not looking forward to the day that Elisabeth can read with certainty. One time, Doug told Elisabeth that she couldn't wear slippers to preschool by telling her it was in the handbook. She demanded strict proof of this, and he pointed to a section of the handbook. She believed him.

Just today, she wanted to go into the chocolate store on the way to Doug's mom's house, but didn't want to wear her shoes. He told her there was a sign on the door that said she had to wear shoes. Again, strict proof was demanded. I'm sure he assumed there was a "no shirt, no shoes, no service" sign. Since there wasn't, the "no solicitation" sign had to suffice. She believed it said "must wear shoes."

But, I'm beginning to think she's on to our trick. We play a game on long drives. You have to find a sign that has the letter A on it. Then the letter B. Then C. We got stuck for awhile on J. Being nothing if not patient...she decreed that if she saw an L that was curvy like a J (like a calligraphed lowercase l), then she could call it a J. I said, "no, no, that's cheating. You can't do that." She replied, "yes, I can Mommy. The sign says that I can. I'll show you. It says you can call a curvy L a J."

How are we going to parent when she can read and spell? Code words, I suppose. If I want to ask Doug how he feels about the kids having a donut, I'll have to say something like: Doug, do you think the petunias need a sweet fertilizer?

In other news, I now know for sure why the jail "waiting room" smells like urine. As I walked in on Thursday morning, in the middle of a government, public building, a guy was urinating against the wall. Not a homeless looking person. Not even a person that looked like they had just gotten out of jail. A guy wearing perfectly respectable clothes, that you would certainly not expect to be urinating against a wall in an open room. People are nuts.