Home is where the couch is.

You need to have kids in your life, because kids see things that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Like this weekend, for instance. Me and Tony get up to Sacramento to see Kevin and Nancy and the kids, but Kevin and his oldest son aren't home yet because they got distracted on the way home from Albertson's.

Eamon's 11 now, so he's at that stage of life where his head turns whenever he passes a sign that says "Moving Sale."

Because that stage normally lasts from puberty until about age 97, Kevin pulled over and bought some TV the size of commercial refrigerator, and then I helped him carry it inside.

Then the guys told me about some furniture that they'd seen at the moving sale, and I said "Oh boy! This I got to see!"

Long story short we came home with a dinette set and a couch, but we got hungry half way through moving the stuff in, so we took a break for lunch, and when we went back outside to bring the couch in from the driveway, number three son was sitting out there with a Gatorade in one hand and a Moonpie in the other looking like something you'd see on "Cops."

He said "You're gonna bring the couch inside? Why?!"

How do you answer a question like that, you know? Why not have a couch in your driveway? Are we such slaves to the arbitrary value system imposed by the culture at large?!

Yeah, so we took it inside anyway. One day he'll thank us.

Kurt "big daddy" True
3 may 2006