Every end of school year, we have a solemn ritual where we give the kids new rights and responsibilities. John and I struggle a bit with what to add: are they responsible enough for X? Which of us gets to hand over a chore? Previous years have involved the right to cut with a sharp knife, use a family computer, and the responsibility of making your own lunch. This year:

David's rights

--Read Harry Potter 6 and watch the movie when he's done reading it.

--Cross Greenwood at the light, which means he can go to the library by himself.

--his allowance went from 2.00 a month to 5.00.

David's responsibilities

--Take out the yard waste

--Manage his library account, which means getting the books back on time or paying the fines himself

Rose's rights

--unlimited texting

--her allowance went from 2.00 a month to 5.00.

--"babysitting" David. This means we can go out at night and they can put themselves to bed. We're planning to ease this in on nights when we only plan to be out until 10:30 or so. Rose asked for this, but it is a major new right for us.

Rose's responsibilities

--making gluten-free bread

--taking out the recycling

--Manage her library account