I kept this cartoon posted by Purple Cover because it reminded me so much of myself and my son. Quite a few years back I took my son in with me on a Saturday to the biology lab. I had just a few things to catch up on and he was too young to stay home alone. At that time the lab was full of all manner of creepy crawly creatures. I told him he could pick out anything he wanted to take home if he was good while I worked. I got my work done & he had been very good, walking around, checking everything out, exclaiming and laughing out loud if something delighted him.

“So,” I said, after giving serious praise, “what would you like to take home?”

He pointed to the bloodsuckers. Of course we couldn’t, of course I had to say no. I explained that he couldn’t keep them on him in order for them to stay alive (his plan). He refused to take anything else. It was something that sucked blood—preferably his—or nothing. *Fail*