I recently cooked, packed and transported dinner to a friend's house, about eight hours from home. As I unpacked the whole watermelon, my friend remarked that her children would be impressed by the full-bodied fruit, as she only brought home watermelon already cut up in
small plastic containers. Within moments, as though on
cue, offspring #1walked into the kitchen, spied the watermelon and exclaimed, \"Wow! That watermelon is huge!\" My friend and I made immediate eye contact and she shot me the \"See. What did I tell you ?\" look. A few minutes later, offspring #2 came in and opened the refrigerator, where the watermelon was now housed, and was heard to say, \"Oh my gosh! That's the biggest watermelon I've ever seen. It's huge!\" I expplained that it was really just very average in size. Yes, minutes later came another \"It's so huge,\" comment from child number three. They are all involuntary recipients of consistent parenting. To add to the amusement of the parental units, when quizzed about Edgar Allen Poe, the middle child proclaimed him author of \"The Half-Beating Heart.\"