Too Good Not To Be True

Somehow, the words “Shut up!” made an early entry into the vocabulary of a little girl named Janice. She played no favorites: it was “Shut up!” to her older brother, to her cat, to Mickey Mouse on TV, to her little friends, even to strangers in the supermarket. Finally, Janice’s parents took a once-and-for-all stand. “You are never, ever to say ‘Shut-up!’ again.” Janice seemed to get the point, until a few hours later when she was heard saying it again in her room, not in harsh tones as before, but tenderly. You see, Janice decided to name one of her dolls “Shut-up”.

Then there is the story of another ingenious second-grade youngster named Harold who had a burning desire to own a watch — not a “little kids” watch but a “real watch” like his Daddy’s. He pestered his parents mercilessly, until they decided, finally, to take a firm position in the matter. The boy’s father gave him several reasons why he couldn’t…