Maybe it's time for a change! Maybe it's time to keep things the same! Without a watch like this, you'll just have to guess.

"Have you heard?" blared the TV into the empty room. "Shirt.Woot's opened up a plethora of past designs for sale! Hurry yourself on over and-"

Michelle tapped the remote and powered down the TV. "Jake! I told you to turn this off if you're not watching it!"

Jake didn't answer. But Michelle wasn't about to just let it go.

The house was quiet now that the TV was off, and Michelle could- well, there wasn't a word for it in English, but her Mother Sense told her where she'd find her son. Even though his room appeared empty, there was juuuuust enough room under his bed for a young boy and a LEGO watch with mini-figure. And that was juuuust enough entertainment to last until dinner. Michelle knew, to her son, that was practically an eternity.

Under the bed, Jake could hear his mother in the hallway. When he decided to run upstairs and grab his LEGO figure, he'd gambled his mother wouldn't come in the living room. Now, of course, he was trapped. Jake peeked at the watch: 4pm on the dot. His father wouldn't be home for at least ninety minutes. And he knew his mother wasn't going to just walk away by herself.

Michelle stood in the hall, arms crossed. She was expecting her son to stay in one place, or maybe to pretend he wasn't even under the bed. She wasn't expecting the tiny white flag that came sliding out.

"Mom," Jake said very seriously. "I'm sorry I left the TV on. But I wasn't planning to be out of the room for long. I meant to come right back after I grabbed the figure that came with my LEGO watch. I'm sure, in light of this new information, we can resolve to form a bridge between our two ideologies and start anew. There's work to be done, Mom. And we both have to do our part if we're going to put this world together. It's not about who owns the TV. It's about both of us using it properly, and keeping it safe for the next person who uses it as well."

Michelle didn't laugh. Michelle didn't cry. Michelle didn't yell or scoop her son up in her arms with pride. Instead, she walked into the room, knelt down, and looked her son directly in the eyes.

"Jake," she said calmly. "Have you been watching MSNBC?"

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