That night, the kids asked me if I recalled anything from kindergarten. E, my eldest, specifically wondered if that was the time I dropped the Very Heavy Chair on my toe. They loved that story because I admitted that upon dropping said Heavy Chair, I said a large number of bad words. (3/12)

No, I told them, that was when I was in college. But that didn’t stop them from pressing on, their hearts filled with mischievous delight at the thought of dad swearing. In hushed tones, 7-year-old E asked: “Did you say the F word? The one that ends in K?” “Yup,” I admitted. “I sure did.” (4/12)