Lily told me the other morning that she wanted to be a doctor when she grows up. I said, “That’s great, Lily! You’ll be a great doctor!”

Jack said, “Yeah! And I’m gonna be a pirate!”

Last night, in our continuing efforts to get Jack potty-trained, Char sat him down just before bed to go potty. A few moments later he said, “Mom, I just did the water thing!” Recognizing this as the milestone that it is, we all congratulated him. Lily gave him a high-five. I picked him up and hugged him and we had this conversation:

Me: “Good job, Jack! That was awesome!”
Jack: “I’m a big boy now!”
Me: “Yes, that’s great! Pretty soon you’ll be wearing underwear all the time.”
Jack: “Yeah, and then I can do the water thing and I won’t need my pull-ups and we can put them in a garage sale!”
Me: “Uh… well, yep… I guess we can sell your pull-ups in a garage sale.”
Jack: “Yeah, ’cause I’m a big boy now.”

For the record, I have no idea why he thinks his pull-ups are going in a garage sale, but it’s perfectly fine with me.

I finished reading “Freakonomics” a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to mention it. The book is a fascinating, somewhat rambling, look at some odd questions that affect us all but probably never occurred to you. Questions like:

• Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?
• What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
• Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?
• How much do parents really matter?

And perhaps the one that will cause the biggest stir:

• What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?

I won’t spoil it for you; it’s definitely worth reading the answers as the authors have presented them, but be prepared for some controversial answers to questions you hadn’t thought to ask.

And in the meantime, spend a little time on the authors’ blog, which explores some of these ideas and other current thoughts. It’s well worth your time.