The other day, I was walking out of a neighborhood casual-dining restaurant, and I noticed that an entire booth of fellow diners was looking at me.

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Well, they weren’t exactly looking at me. They were looking at my shoes.

 

Now, some of you might find it flattering to have a booth of people keenly interested in, and talking about, your footwear. For me, being not much of a fashion plate, I found it unnerving, so unnerving, in fact, that I immediately reported it to my wife once we reached the safety and relative anonymity of our car.

 

“They were looking at my shoes!” I told her.

 

She didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation, based on her rather dismissive comment: “So?”

 

“But, do my shoes look stupid?” I asked.

 

“No,” she said, adding: “I think they’re actually kind of cool-looking.”

 

 

 

Do you know where your kids are right now?

 

I bet I know where mine are: They’re either playing non-educational video games, watching the Rugrats on television, or both at the same time.

 

So the question of the day is: Since I know where they are, does that make me a good parent? Or since I know what they’re doing, does that make me a bad parent?

 

I won’t be the only one worrying, or not worrying, about my kids beginning this month: School opens again, and a whole new set of handlers will be helping me keep them busy.