Is it just me or does anyone else wonder if Sarah Palin realizes that, when she refers to a "shining city on a hill" (and John Winthrop predates Reagan's use of the term by approximately 350 years), she's actually refering to this Bastion of Liberal Elitism? OK, maybe it wasn't that liberal in the 1600s - you know those wacky Puritans - but it is certainly seen that way these days. Enquiring minds want to know.

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A fine example of Love and Logic parenting in action:

A couple of weeks ago, Devil and I had a disgreement about getting dressed. Which is to say, I wanted her to put her clothes on and she was more interested in running around naked and hiding from me. Finally, I laid down this ultimatum:

"You can come and put your clothes on now, or you can take them to daycare in a bag."

Sure enough, ten minutes later she was getting strapped in to her carseat starkers, and off we went for the day.

About an hour later, I got a call from Ironman to inform me that, upon arrival at daycare, Devil hopped out of the car with nary a care in the world, and then decided she'd put on her shoes because her feet were cold. She made it all the way through the daycare, dropped Boo off at her class, and walked in to her class before she finally deigned to get dressed. Thankfully, the daycare staff chose to be entertained rather then concerned, and did not call CPS or the police for the blatent display of girlie parts parading through the center.

I was a bit concerned about the success of my tactic, but...last week when Devil and I had this exact same conversation, complete with an identical ultimatum, she immediately came over and got dressed. What's a little fatherly mortification when it works, hunh?

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Why I love fall: three pairs of handknit socks and one new sweater worn this week.

Porpoise Fur