“Treat her to a scoop!” said the man in the ice cream shop as we walked by. He waved us into the ice cream shop, where W- chose maple walnut and I chose butter pecan. Our orders were rung up by a 4-year-old, all eagerness and tiny fingers at the cash register, coached by her mom to punch in the buttons and wish us a good day. I thought it was delightful.

That’s one of the advantages of a family business that deals with tangible things, I guess. I remember my dad teaching us how to transfer rolls of film in the darkroom. We didn’t help out regularly, but it was great to learn about how parts of the business worked.

It’s a little harder to show J- the magic of building applications, so we focus on tangible hobbies instead: cooking, baking, woodworking, gardening, and so on. They’re good introductions to the joys of learning and accomplishment.

2011-04-25 Mon 08:40