Years ago, while Juneau friends were house hunting in Washington state, they left their middle school son with me for the weekend. The instructions were easy: Only one bowl of sugared cereal and pay attention to homework.

The kid outsmarted his parents on the one-bowl rule for Frosted Mini Wheats. He pulled a large mixing bowl from the cupboard instead of a much smaller cereal bowl.

Not a crime, but certainly going rogue at the breakfast table.

At dinner one night, the kid was explaining to me his lack of academic achievement. He took a break from the spaghetti to hold out his arms in an expressive pose and said: “I’m a slacker. I’m OK with that. My parents just need to get used to it.”

They never really got used to it, but they were patient and years later he had graduated from colleg

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