I enjoyed a lovely conversation with my two children a couple of days ago. It was a sunny Sunday late afternoon. We were returning from an outing to a local kid’s park and petting zoo. I heard them sitting in the backseat of my SUV discussing with each other plans to spoil me on the upcoming Mothers’ Day.

“Uh, I want to buy Mom her favorite milk tea from Fantasia.”

Then another small voice, “Then I am going to buy her Peet’s coffee!”

The smile on my face broke into a chuckle when I heard their much dreaded stinky tofu make the list of special plans.

“Forbes Mill! We can buy her steaks at Forbes Mill.”

What great kids, not just any steak, they even remember the name of my favorite steakhouse. That’s when I chimed in on their conversation from the driver’s seat, “Forbes Mill would be too expensive for you; perhaps you can suggest it to your Dad.”

“Well, what else would you like on Mother’s day?” my nine-year-old asked.

“Hugs and kisses, I would like LOTS of those on Mother’s day.” I said quickly.

“oh, you can have lots of hugs and kisses! They are free!” my baby leaned forward and said happily.

“True, that’s why there is a saying that the best things in life are often free.” I said.

On second thought, I added, “actually, your hugs and kisses might be free, but you are not, in fact, you two cost a lot of money.”

To that, my nine-year-old exclaimed, “We ARE free! Just the things that we require are not…”

Fried Stinky Tofu