Viking Girl

“Parenting is so hard though.  And it has only gotten harder the more mobile they’ve gotten, so I can’t blame Jim for rewarding himself.  I still do it whenever I get Gavin through another day.  But, he is a Pan, so he should be able to handle anything.”

“Oh I know, it seems like suddenly everything is dangerous now that she can get into everything. I can’t blame him either but I still do, although that might just be because I live with him. Considering how well you’ve handled being a father I’ll say he has a pretty good example of handling anything. And Brooke is a Hawkins which means she can get into all kinds of trouble.”

“It is simply not possible that Gavin will be in my class next year.  It’s just… not supposed to happen.”

“Nice to know I’m not the only one bemoaning the passage of time. It seems like just yesterday that Jim was trying to reward himself for having Brooke survive a whole year.”

“I didn’t peg you for a bully, you’re too pretty for that sort of ugliness,” he said, “Nice to meet you, Astrid, officially that is.”

“Ah, but what might be brutal honesty to the speaker may be heard as bullying to the listener, I prefer to err on the side of caution.” She raised the coffee to her lips again and took a small sip. “I suppose I shall return the sentiment.”