Visit the kelpforest....

The little cardboard sleeve on my half-drunk* cup of Starbuck's has slipped down, finally allowing me to read the quote plastered on the side of it.  Some of these make me laugh, some make me go "hmmm" and some make me raise my eyebrows.  

This one says "Children are born with such a sense of fairness that they will accept no less than equal treatment for all.  I know - I have three."

 Huh.  I also have three.  I would like to know she acquired these mutants - because mine (and most others I have met and know of ) came out completely selfish with only their own interests at heart - at least until their awareness expanded outside themselves.  That's what babies do, and how they survive - they're tiny balls of "MeMeMeMe!" - but we put up with it because (we tell ourselves desperately in the wee hours of the morning, when they WILL NOT STOP CRYING) we wanted them and we know (at least deep down, eventually), this will pass. 

 My youngest, being the only girl, seems to know instinctively how to outmaneuver her older brothers, and get one more cookie or another piece of junk for herself.  She's also pretty good at commandeering the remote.  If I hear her brothers screech or yell when I'm busy in another room, it's usually because of her.  She has also almost completely appropriated the Lazy Boy in the living room, and has to be told to let someone else sit there.  That being said, they all are fairly concerned when someone gets hurt and everyone wants to be sure everyone else is all right.  Innate fairness, though?  Give me a break.  Has this parent ever spent any time at the neighborhood playground?  While most kids are not resistant to it, it often has to be prompted.

In any case, anyone can submit these bits of pithy goodness (or tripe, depending on your point of view). My spouse submitted "I used to think to that sitting around with my friends talking was having a good time.  And then someone brought coffee."

I told him he should've submitted what he said was his first, although ethically flawed,  business model - "I need to find something that I can buy for a dime, sell for a dollar and is habit-forming."

 He didn't think Starbucks was going to buy either of those.  Or put them on a cup.

Want to respond to a cup you’ve seen, or offer up a quote of your own? Go here.

~~~~~
*There's an interesting mental picture - a little paper container hiccuping and attempting not to stagger down the sidewalk.

badparents

Maddy's Molar
"Right, Dad. I'll be asleep soon, so you'll want to remember to take the tooth out from the envelope under my pillow and put the money in. Er, I mean, if you're talking to the Tooth Fairy you may want to make sure that she doesn't forget this time, right? Well, good night."

I treasure the way our children nurture our illusions. Or at least humour them.