The Rules

The Granddaugher is now several months past three. Can you believe it? She's getting smarter and smarter every day.

On the rare day everybody was back at home, we were all sitting around the dining room table playing a game. The Adorable One was in my lap.

The Daughter noisily tried to make a point about the proper rules. Gramps was not having any of it.

"To hell with the frickin' rules!" I said.

The Granddaughter was my backup. "To hell with the frickin' rules!" she repeated.

We repeated this routine several times, each one more side-splittingly humorous than the last. Finally, The Daughter could take no more.

"Dad," she said quite seriously, "If you want to keep seeing her, you can't teach her to say 'hell.'"

"All right," I replied. I whispered something in The Granddaughter's ear.

She looked up at her mother and said, "To heck with the fucking rules!"

I think we've got a keeper.