Yesterday I took my 2 year old to Walmart with me. He picked out a singing birthday card for his uncle and proudly held on to it until it was time to pay. When it was our turn at the check-out, my son flashed a smile at the must-have-retired-many-years-ago-but-needed-to-supplement-her-income cashier and shouted, "Hi!"

"Hello," she said, "Do you have a card there?"

Oblivious to the nice lady's question, he turned to me and declared, "Mama. It's great grandma!"

A bit stunned, and scrambling for something to say, I quickly became thankful for age-induced hearing loss.

"Oh, that's nice," she said, "you have a card for your grandpa?"

Yes, we do. Time to go. Thank you. And have a nice day.