My daughter Julia came to live with me two years ago for school. It isn't easy for me to raise someone who is practically my nine-year-old clone, but that is exactly what I find I am doing with Julia. Through our judo and soccer practices, reading, writing and arithmetic, Girl Scouts, and Japanese language classes, we occasionally have a conversation that connects us both in a sometimes deep and usually humorous way. Hopefully, you will be as entertained as we are.

Dirty Underwear

Because of the holiday, Julia has a rare opportunity to go to Sunday school.  She is dissatisfied because Daddy is making her wear a red dress that she does not want to wear.  Daddy has now arrived to retrieve her and is able to listen to the end of her class, in which the students have been asked to write only five items they would take when leaving Egypt on a forty-year trek with Moses and Joshua…

Teacher:  Julia, what are you taking with you?

Julia:  Clothes, underwear, food, water, and a good pair of shoes.

Teacher:  (stunned)  Wow!  That’s really a practical list!

Julia:  (pause)  Oh, wait.  I want to change something.  I want to bring dirty underwear.

Teacher:  (pause)  Oh, O.K…

Daddy:  Sigh.