My Daughter.

Meg got a warning on her driving a couple of nights ago. She was coming home from an outing with friends when she overshot a red light, realised it, tapped the brake, and decided to go through because it was just safer to do that. She got pulled over, to her acute shame, and explained to the officer what had happened. He told her that he'd guessed that's what happened, and wasn't going to give her a ticket, just a warning.

She told me that she was so ashamed that she felt like crying but didn't. "I didn't want the policeman to think I was trying to manipulate him."

***

Meg was on the computer yesterday while I was making a ginger-pear tart for a dessert for guests we were having that night. I cut off a tiny piece of the candied ginger and went into the family room, where I found her in her usual bizarre mood.

"Open your mouth and close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise" I offered.

"What is it, a cockroach?" came the sardonic reply.

"Of course not!", I laughed.

"A spider?"

"No, something much, much nicer than a spider."

"A bunny rabbit?" she said in a toddler's voice.

"Yeah, kid, open your yap one more time and I'm going to stuff a dead bunny in there! Open up, doofus!"

Finally she duly closed her eyes and opened up. I placed the ginger in her mouth.

"Oooohhh, garlic!" she cooed. "Uuuhhhmm, I meant ginger, right? Ginger!"