Can You Teach Old Dogs New Tricks?

Maybe, depends on the dogs.

My parents, for example, are in the middle of another negligible home improvement project and have asked my husband, the general contractor, to oversee the work. In spite of every piece of expert advice he has ever offered them over the years, they do the opposite. Penny wise and pound foolish, they are impossibly stuck in their ways.

G, on the other hand, has learned a new trick: Suggest the opposite of good sense and quality. Tell them what they want to hear and offer the cheapest option. That's what they'll end up doing anyway.

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After working on costuming last night, G and L tried to put on their show this morning for Dad.

CAST

Mr. Crocodile.....G
Monkeys............L
Narrator............Me


(Monkey holds arms above her head, appearing to swing from branches. Mr. Crocodile crawls menacingly on opposite side of room.)

Narrator: Five little monkeys swinging from the tree, teasing Mr. Crocodile...

Monkey: You can't catch me!

(Mr. Crocodile approaches Monkey)

Narrator: Along comes Mr. Crocodile... (Mr. Crocodile opens wide) quiet as can be, and...



But as Mr. Crocodile approaches, and before we get to the highly dramatic "SNAP!" L goes screaming out of the room and slams the door behind her.

Curtain!