"Dada, I need a bag to take my project to school and it looks like it might rain" said Murrie, my almost-12 year old daughter. "A bag, okay, try looking under the sink,” I comment. "Dada, the ones under the sink are too small,” she shouts up the stairs. "Okay, let me look in the garage when I come downstairs before taking you to school.” When I get downstairs, Murrie is waiting for me. "Where is it?" she asks. "Just a minute,” I say. When I go into the garage, the only plastic bags are fairly big. The kind that are meant for a large garbage pail, and smaller than the kind you would use for your lawn clippings. I pull one out and walk back into the hallway. "Here it is, Murrie,” I say. "Dada, the bag is way too big and I need to go to school.” At this point I just take her project and put it in the bag myself, being careful to fold over the plastic in a way that makes it easier to carry, then hand it to her. "The bag is still way too big,” she says. Now we get in the car to go to school. "Dada, the bag is really big.” "I know, the bag is really big,” I say. "That's right, the bag is really big and I can't believe it. Why do I have to go to school with my project in such a big bag?" "Because, Murrie, it was the only bag I had, and the other bag was too small, and you needed a bag for your project.” "I know,” she says. "But the bag is still too big.” At this point, I’m getting a bit ruffled. "Murrie, if you say that the bag is too big again, I’m stopping the car and you will walk the rest of the way to school.” "You wouldn't do that,” she huffs. "Try me!” I say. And for the rest of the car ride, all 5 minutes of it, Murrie is quiet. When we get within 3 blocks of the school, Murrie starts up again. "Dada, the bag is too big and because of you I am now going to be late.” It was actually just 8:00 AM and she was 10 minutes early. So I replied "Murrie, all I know is, is that the bag is really big and I can't believe you had to put your project in it, and I hope