Dad Fly

We've all heard of the gad fly buzzing around the hind parts of cattle, who want nothing more than to swat it away with their tails. Many have compared their role in society, for better or for worse, to the gad fly: bards, poets, politicians, the press, etc. Many people have compared people in their lives, usually for worse, to the gad fly: spouses (not mine, of course), mothers-in-law (again, not mine), the know-it-all cousin (luckily I don't have one of those, etc. No matter who they are, all of us just want to swat that person away too. There is nothing worse than getting nagged. Last night and all through the day today.I've been consumed by this one thought: I think that I am doing to my kids what I dislike others doing to me--I'm a nag--the dad fly! I'm an attorney. I require things to be in logical order, even my kids. Boy would it be terrible to be in their shoes sometimes. Tonight I was determined not to nag, to let things go, to pretend it's not a big deal. Interestingly enough, pretending helps. In fact, pretending that it wasn't a big deal when something was out of logical order convinced me that it is true. It is a lawyer trick I've never tried at home: assume the solution and see what happens. Well, it worked, and when the dad fly disappeared my kids were much happier. Who wouldn't be?