Usually, the kids are pretty talkative in the car in the morning. Even so, most of our conversations boil down to

“Did you remember X?” “Yes, Daddy.” “Did you remember Y?” “Yes, Daddy.” “Did you remember Z?” [Pause] “AAAAARGH!”

and then we turn the car around.

However, this morning, it was just dark enough so that the girls needed to turn on the reading lights in the back of the car. They each have their own reading light, and their own Lemony Snicket book. The radio is off, and in the car there is simply. . .

Silence.

So much silence that I notice it, and could swear that I’m a limo driver carrying two executives – one reading the Wall Street Journal, one reading the Financial Times — to the airport. I’m almost ready to stop at the next intersection and ask for some Grey Poupon. But then life returns to normal when I ask Daughter #2 if she likes her new deskmates. She was moved because there was a new kid in the class who simply HAD to sit next to her best friend. So now she’s with Susie (whom she likes) and Christopher (whom she doesn’t, because he’s too distracting). D#2 takes great pride in her behavior.

We then get into cooties and boy germs. It’s amazing how those concepts get passed from generation to generation. I wonder why there is a silly name for one and not the other. I forget if cooties were an ambisexual thing, or were cooties a synonym for girl germs.

Then it’s relationship issues. Apparently, people still haven’t “gotten the message” that D#2 and Marco are not “going out” any more [remember that these kids are six]. I might as well be hosting an episode of “Dr. Phil”.