A very nice surprise!

Emma, who is 10, and has been a little slower than the rest of us to fully embrace and carve out her niche with the work associated with our bread + butter project, gave me a pleasant surprise today. When I called her on my way home from work, she said, "Dad, guess what? I have a great idea. I'm making a sign and I am going to tape it to the wall under the clock in the kitchen." Even though I was imagining the paint that would peel off the wall when the sign was yanked down, I said, "That sounds great, honey. What is the sign for?" She told me that it was for bread + butter, and that we were going to use it to make a list of things to talk about at our next business meeting, which regular followers know take place on Friday evenings over dinner. To me, this sounded kind of like an agenda. Who knew that Emma, who has displayed no interest in coordinating or planning anything in the ten years I have known her, would suddenly be interested in organizing a family discussion? "God help her," I thought. When I came home, I found the 'sign' on the kitchen counter - not taped to the wall under the clock - with one item on it. I was tempted to add some more, but I wanted Emma to take an active role in compiling the agenda. So, I took out my blackberry, e-mailed her a few ideas to include, and taped the 'sign' to the refrigerator, which is made of stainless steel, not paint that can peel. My hope is that she will actually open her email before the meeting, add the items in her own writing to the sign, and guide us all through a productive discussion on Friday evening. Even if she doesn't, I'm glad to see she's interested, and thinking about the project on her own, and how we can work together as a family.

-Tom

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