We drove home from my parents' last night, van laden with containers full of water and a new portable fan, to a very welcome sight...every window of our house was ablaze with light. Our light switches are horizontal, not vertical, and I can never remember which way is "on," so I guess they had all been turned on by children when the power was out and we didn't notice (because, um, the power was out). But Ethan and I let out a cheer when we saw that we had power. And no less than FOUR voices behind us let out a groan and said, "Oh, no, POWER!" (And I'm sure Eden [16 mos.] would have if she could figure out how to say "power.")

" 'Oh, no?' " I echoed. "You don't like air conditioning? You don't like getting to turn the water on? You don't like TOILETS THAT FLUSH????"

"I can flush the toilets at Grandma's," Benjamin (6) replied.

I tell you what. You just can't please all of the people all of the time. And children are nigh impossible.

But I, for one, promptly took a shower, drank a large water, and flushed about four times last night.