Mike rushed out the door to his garage, stressed out and frustrated. Another Monday morning, and already it was going to be a bad day. His 13-year-old son, Ryan, had taken to arguing every time he was asked to do chores, and only doing them when he "felt like it." This time, it meant the family had woken up to a kitchen strewn with garbage – Ryan hadn't put the bag outside, and their dog Angel had gone digging. After a drawn-out discussion with Ryan, Mike finally made it out the door with his briefcase and travel mug full of coffee. He got in his car, pushed the garage door opener, and began to back out. But a second later, he heard a scraping sound as he felt the car roll over something in the driveway. Grumbling, Mike got out to discover he'd broken the handle of his rake, which Ryan had failed to put away yesterday. He decided then and there that Ryan would be grounded for the rest of the week – but there was no time for that now. Mike tossed the rake into the grass and got back in the car and started out of the neighborhood. |
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