Instead of our scheduled date night, Sandy and I recently drove to pick up a new mattress for 5-year-old Sophie, long overdue for her move from the toddler bed. To make up for the missed date, we stopped for dessert at the Burlington Mall Cheesecake Factory. 

“Some date,” Sandy said as we walked back to our minivan. 

“Well,” I said, “I do have a van with a mattress in the back . . .”

She was not amused. 

 Jeffrey Korenstein / Waltham

When we rented a family cottage last summer, we would all walk the 10 minutes to the beach each day. One day my 7-year-old granddaughter, Abby, got impatient and started out alone. I called after her, “You cannot go to the beach by yourself without supervision.” She replied: “Really, Nana? Do I have to be like Superman and have super vision to go to the beach?”

 Judi Mullin / Milford