This one is for Amy!

Friends. They are great. Sometimes they help you through rough times, and sometimes they make you laugh. Then there are times when they help you out with problems. This is what my friend Amy does. She can cook up a mean meal on the sly, she always has something that will enhance a school lesson (like a sombrero or a stuffed armadillo) she has gadgets that would make most people green with envy, and she is my friend.

We share custody of a mah jong game. More of that later.

This past weekend a whole slew of us were camping down in Fort De Soto. Eight kids and many more adults, but somehow we felt outnumbered. Our last evening there, some of the Dads went fishing, some watched a movie, the moms played mah jong and then it started raining. Really sprinkling. So, eight kids piled up in our pop-up camper and had an evening of Nintendo DS playing and/or movie...unsupervised. No big deal right? Well, that would normally be the case, but the last time Olivia and Maddie were left in the camper they devoured a box of fruit roll-ups, got into the Cheetos and had their own PARTY!

Well, after two hours of seaside card playing goodness, we started hearing noises of FUN in the distance. I tried to ignore it and it seemed like everyone else could. We were about 100 yards away and with each squeal I could imagine other neighboring campers wondering what was going on!! So, I called my cell phone and Stephanie answered, I told her to control the noise. "Yes ma'am" she said so sweetly.

Twenty minutes later, the noise had continued to escalate and we began discussing some parenting pointers. We talked about micro-managing, failures, successes all while playing mah jong. Amy just listened. I called Stephanie back. "You guys need to be quieter." "Yes ma'am." she said, oh so sweetly again.

Ten more minutes passed. I was losing terribly. I could not keep my mind on the game. Finally Amy said "Give me that phone." She called. She told Stephanie " This is Ms. Amy, the Rangers are riding around and giving out tickets for people being too loud. Now you kids need to quiet it down." "Yes ma'am." she said yet again.

Lies. All lies. No Rangers. No tickets. But we got to finish our game. The Dads never had a clue. And Amy told me afterwards... "Now, that parenting tip you ain't gonna find in no book. Blog that!"

Thanks. See, friends like Amy help you get your kids raised.