Scene: The yard of the kid across the street. Harriet is walking AJ over there to play. They find four other kindergartners standing on the corner with a roll of paper towels, a squirt bottle of Windex and a small plastic tub with some quarters in it.

Harriet: What are you guys doing?
Boy Across the Street: We�re washing cars. See? [Shows the bucket of quarters].

Girl up the Road: Yeah, we washed B�s [another kindergartner] and she gave us a whole dollar!

Harriet: Wow! What are you going to do with all that cash?

The Boy Across the Street: We�re going to sell it to the government.

* * * * *

The Boy Across the Street met with some resistance to the selling to the government idea. It seems that the other kids thought they should keep the money. In the end, Mr. Spy convinced them (I think) to give the money to charity. They made almost $10 on what was surely cuteness and not superior car-washing skills.

Mr. Spy and I are, however, not entirely comfortable with kids standing outside and asking for money. We pushed for charitable donations for a number of reasons, but mainly because we didn�t want our children extorting cash from our neighbors. But I�m not entirely sure we did the right thing. I like that they were enterprising and that they were trying to earn money on their own. Anyone else want to weigh in on the moral dilemma? Or on whether the quality of the car washing is even an issue? Would your feelings be different if they�d been running a lemonade stand? Because I think mine would and I�m not entirely sure why.

In other news, Mr. Spy�s potential agent liked the book! A lot. Mr. Spy, however, is not entirely sure about the agent and is conducting further research. Stay tuned to the unfolding drama, as told in blog-anonymizing code! I�m sure it�s thrilling to one and all.

We leave for the beach in two days. Two! AJ turns six in four days. Four! The big questions on my mind at the moment are, �How on earth will we get all this stuff into the car?� and �What the hell am I going to wear?� and also, �How many pairs of shoes can I squeeze in my suitcase?� When it comes to packing, I have certain girlish tendencies. Mostly, though, my inner sociopath comes out. Here is the truth of the matter: Really, I would love to wear the same three or four outfits over and over and over again. Most of my clothes I could take or leave. I�d rather just wear my favorites every single day. Which is exactly what happens on vacation, because I pack for maximum efficiency. I refuse to bring more than carryon baggage (or, if we�re driving, the equivalent of carryon baggage), no matter how long I am gone. Well, except for the shoes.

AJ�s presents are wrapped. My father�s are not. I even wrapped the few surprises I bought AJ to keep him entertained on the car trip just because I thought the wrapping paper would add to the fun. Two 8+ hour days in the car takes a lot of entertaining.

AJ is extremely excited about the trip. It�s been nearly two years since we�ve been down there and he�s looking forward to a big adventure. He got up this morning and started trying on all his summer clothes. His bug shirt. His new plaid shorts. His favorite White Sox tee. His new beach shoes. He laid out his selections along with a disposable Spongebob camera we bought him to record his trip. He is very excited to use it.

I will be spending the rest of the afternoon in AJ�s classroom. It�s been about a month since I last volunteered there � my last slotted date happened to be the same as the day of the all-school field trip, so I was relieved of my duties. I�m looking forward to playing games with the kids. Hopefully I will recover in time to pack.

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