Beth’s birthday was a success. I just wish she liked the $200 bike as much as the $20 lamp. I thought it was going to be a mistake to give her the biggest gift first, but it all worked out in the end. The bike came first, with a moderate amount of joy, and the lamp came last, accompanied by an explosion of eight year old birthday glee.

When you get right down to it, it’s pretty typical. One minute they’re a toddler, surrounded by Fisher-Price and the gang, gleaning hours of entertainment from the car seat strap; the next they’re shunning a perfectly good bike in favor of rhythmic (light) switching in the bedroom.