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The Slice: Which would you want to be your babysitter?

Arloine Brown shared a story that could serve as a nomination for both the best babysitter and the worst.

“My husband and I came home from a party to find our 8-year-old daughter sitting by our 2-year-old son’s bed, patting him softly. She shushed us and said, ‘I took him to the bathroom, gave him some water, told him a story and now I’m patting him to sleep.’

“ ‘But where’s the babysitter?’ I said.

“ ‘Oh,’ she replied, ‘sound asleep on the davenport.’ ”

Unexpectedly delightful things about being a grandparent: “When visiting, the grandkids solve all of our tech problems,” wrote Teresa Vanairsdale. “We usually have a list made up before they visit.”

Speaking of being a grandparent: Ann Hill wonders how many sometimes find themselves humming the theme songs from children’s TV programs such as “Peg + Cat.”

In the matter of whether the staff at medical offices actually read your filled-out forms: Alana Kaplan had moved to a different town and was visiting a new dental office.

“On my first appointment I had to fill out pages and pages of medical and personal history. At one point they asked what I preferred to be called. Instead of putting ‘Alana’ or ‘Mrs. Kaplan,’ I put ‘Your Highness,’ thinking that they would never even read this.

“When it was my turn to go in, the dental assistant came out to the waiting room and asked for ‘Your Highness.’

“There were several other people in the waiting room at the time who perked up immediately as I nonchalantly got up and walked in.”

Slice answer: “As I do not cook, the word that best describes the meal planning process in our household is RESTAURANT,” wrote Janis Hankel.

Memory system: Joyce Wright is 82. She’s willing to admit to having occasional memory issues. But she never has any trouble spotting her car in a parking lot because the license plate starts with “ALZ.”

That always reminds her of Alzheimer’s, which she trusts she is not experiencing.

Speaking of aging: Sue Murphy of Four Lakes wonders.

No fan of “baby boomer” or God forbid, “senior citizen,” she wonders what other Slice readers over the age of 60 like to be called when there’s reason to reference their age.

Today’s Slice question: Ever, in the back of your mind, held out the possibility you might one day return to the faith tradition you grew up with?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Stepping into the Gaiser Conservatory greenhouses at Manito Park can be a blast from the past for those who have lived in more humid climates.

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