The Big TopI’d taken my nephew to the circus. Naturally, it was as a favor to my sister, who, by all rights, really did deserve a child-rearing break. Plus, she paid for the tickets. And it did promise to be a day full of fun and excitement, of tigers and clowns and cotton candy and side-show freaks. The only thing I didn’t count on, unfortunately, were the thousands of screaming, crying, whining children that crowded around us on all sides. It was, to be frank, hell in surround sound.
Then, to top it all off, like a rancid cherry on a sour sundae, I lost my wallet there—and my sanity right along with it.
“Never again,” I told my sister the next day when I dropped my nephew off.
She smiled at me, knowingly. “Cry baby,” she teased.
“Please,” I said, cringing. “Don’t ever mention babies
