So we're coming home from Target, listening to the iPod in the car, and at one point the five year-old pipes up from the backseat, "Why is he the only one that could ever teach her?"

Bonus points for identifying the song without using Google.

This sort of thing makes me sad I don't have babies anymore. I get over it fairly quickly, mind you, usually with the help of my two-year-old's latest tantrum, but I think I understand why people buy gifts for other people's babies. 'Cause someone's got to be seen wearing this!

This is a kid-friendly (meaning colorful and plastic) version of those big foot/shoe-sizing devices found at reputable (read:not Target) shoe stores. $50 is expensive for one of our own, but we spend that much on overpriced shoes when we go someplace to have the kids' feet sized properly. (It is hard for us to leave without buying something, after using their services.) Via Denny's delicious.

Every March, it seems, the boys get sick. Our eldest was home sick on Monday. Our youngest came home from school today at noon, fussy and snotty and pooping goopy. I think there has been one week of the last ten where neither boy has needed to be home for something, usually illness, but also Parent-Teacher conferences, holidays, whatnot. But it is the illness which really drives a dagger through an otherwise productive week, what with the need to stay home, the doctor visits, the crying... And next week is Spring Break. Expect my output to drop drastically.

What would you do with an extra fifteen minutes in your day? Frankly, I would probably roll it into some of the other things I'm already doing: who doesn't need five more minutes to shower, five more minutes of sleep, and five more minutes at the car mechanic where there's nothing to do but read your book? But in the spirit of the question, which comes from my mining of Real Simple back issues, here's what I would do with fifteen extra minutes outside of the normal flow of my life. Fifteen extra minutes just for me.

I would read comic books. This is the same answer I give to the question, "What would you do with an extra $20 a month?" I used to collect comics, but mostly to read them, not to save them for some future bonanza. I miss reading them. I miss the exposure to all that creativity. But I have neither the time, nor the money right now to indulge.

But I know when my boys start reading comics, and they will, I will enjoy reading them, too.

What would you do with an extra fifteen minutes?

So, a lot of the stuff I've been reading about child safety suggests that your kid should have some sort of ID on him or her. That is, a photo with some basic contact information on the back. That way, if they get lost, or (God forbid) hurt, someone can get hold of us. Target gave us some stickers and safety info with a recent photo order. They suggest the whole recent photo, CD, info, etc. route we've already taken. But they also suggest, in the case of evacuation or emergency, giving your kids an index card with their basic info on it. If you get separated, they say, that info will help bring you back together.

So, I thought, what about having them always carry that info around? Like a kid ID card.

Initially, I was a bit leery about it because of the stranger-anxiety thing. You know, you don't put your kid's first name on his jersey so strangers can't call it out and act all chummy. But really, if my kid's been (God forbid) abducted, an ID card isn't going to make much of a difference.

Then I thought, how paranoid do I have to be to make my five-year-old carry (what is essentially) photo ID? Not like I had any identifying anything with me when I was growing up. Not like my kids are ever anyplace without an adult. And where would he carry it? He would leave his shoes at home (and he has) if we didn't remind him to put them on (and we didn't, that one time). And then, the two year-old? What would we do, stick a FedEx return sticker on his back every time he leaves the house?

But the thought of them alone, with a (nice) stranger... scared... crying... just one paranoid parent away from having phone and address at hand... the five year-old can probably memorize our phone number, but the two year-old can't.

So, what do you think? Kid ID, or phone number tattoo?