Quote of the Day

Cecily, like her sisters, is none too fond of Sunday church-going. They get to do it anyway because 1) no one is interested in their opinions; 2) their parents enjoy the services; 3) learning to sit and act like ladies is good for them; 4) it's a reason to dress up; and 5) they might learn something. The fact that they have no choice, doesn't mean they have no opinions. Nor is it a guarantee of good behavior. We always get the opinions, and we have a variety of ways to try to entice the girls to behave, mostly in the form of extensive bribery during the service, lavish praise outside the church when good behavior is achieved and occasional threats of more church-going if behavior doesn't mean standards of acceptable conduct. These latter, Cecily apparently take seriously. As we left the second service of the day this evening, all three girls were being congratulated. Cecily took the praise in stride and announced by way of self-affirmation, "I was good, so now I don't have to go to FIVE MORE churches!"