Wake Up Call

Over the years, my kids have employed many different methods to wake me up in the morning. The most popular one these days, for them anyway, is jumping on me and inadvertently making sure that I'll never have any more kids, which ultimately I'm all for, but the "knees-to-groin" type techniques I don't so much appreciate. Anyway, this morning was different. My 10-year-old daughter quietly entered the room where I had been peacefully sleeping just minutes before — I say "minutes before" because my survival instincts have developed over time to often allow me to actually hear them approaching and wake me moments before they strike. Usually it's just enough time for me to get in the fetal position to protect myself ... but not always. This time, my fetal-position-reflex turned out to not be warranted as she walked up, gently tapped me on the shoulder and said, matter-of-factly, "Daddy, today I'm going to start puberty." Uh ... okay ... well that's a new one.