One evening, as I was relaxing in the family room, my wife came in and announced she was going to the store. As she normally did, she asked both myself and our youngest son, Max, who was one month into the 7th grade, if we needed anything. Even though we both said we didn’t need anything, she made a point to go out of her way and stop by Max’s bedroom. She asked a second time, to which he responded once more that he didn’t need anything. So imagine, if you can, my wife’s reaction when Max declared right before bed that he needed a bag of candy for the next day of school.

That’s Right! She was not happy! By the time Max went to bed, he wasn’t too happy either. I hoped his head hit the pillow with a new found understanding about two things: don&...

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