Close is only for nuclear weapons.

Being the father of boys is very different than being the father of girls. I knew that, I've done it before. Still it really doesn't hit you until if actually....well....Because of the way we as foster parents aquire children the demarkation is very abrupt. This is very true of the three amigos that just began to transform our home last weekend.

For example, after resurrecting our bike pile last weekend I realized I needed a place for the bikes to land at the end of the day. The place has to be well defined, with definite parameters. I found a spot outside of the garage side door, took my oldest son in the pickup to Home Depot where we bought 10 bags of gravel, brought them home, spread them in a large area, and declared the new rule..."The bikes get put on the gravel at the end of the day".

Easy?

Right.

So I was out of town for a couple of days for business. I came back and proceeded to inspect the place for rule compliance...what do I find? A moderate effort...the bikes were NEAR the gravel. Moving them the 18 inches to be ON the gravel was too much I guess.

So, we had a remedial bike-putting-away class and now the bikes rest comfortably....ON THE GRAVEL.