Negotiaton Tactics, Offered Free of Charge

Yesterday I took the day off work, largely so that I could look after Sam and Caleb during a development assessment. They were tested on cognitive abilities, fine motor skills, language development, etc., and they scored fine. At 23 months old, they scored between 21 and 27 months in all categories. So, while there were no serious concerns, everything's good.

However, the two women doing the testing, brought a kit full of toys and assessment tools. The kit, naturally, had one of everything they'd need. Unfortunately, that's not enough for twins.

One test involved turning on (or trying to turn on) a little flashlight. Big hit with Caleb, leading Sam to fall apart because, hey, flashlight! So Daddy took the flashlight from Caleb and gave it to Sam. Caleb falls apart. The flashlight goes back to Caleb, and Sam falls apart. And so on, until both boys are having a hard time catching their breath from all the crying and injustice. Other flashlights were demonstrated and offered, but they weren't THE flashlight. Finally, Daddy had to ask the testers to put away the flashlight, which of course would lead to twice the falling apart, but eventually reconciliation as there was no longer a flashlight to covet.

This is the way to end conflict, I think. Nobody gets the flashlight. Nobody gets the Northern Ireland. If you can't play nice with the Holy Land, we take the Holy Land away. (I'm sort of kidding with this, but it does seem to be working among Republican presidential candidates.)

------

Speaking of whom, I was listening to a radio report this morning about Guiliani's drop from the race. He said he was willing to campaign for McCain wherever he was needed and boasted that he'd give a McCain candidacy "one hundred percent." He added that people knew that anything Rudy did, Rudy gave one hundred percent.

You have to love the audacity of a person who only campaigned in 20% of the primaries thus far claiming they give everything the full additional 80%.

He still gets some credit, though, for not claiming to give one hundred and ten percent. Which I think we all agree is not possible.