Before you have children, no one tells you about the straw. The straw, the straw. This is the sort of thing that eats up your days. A child of two "should" be able to drink from a straw. There are consequences to straw-delay. Your child may develop an overbite, then a need for orthodontia. Virtuous behavior now--right now--means that you may save yourself from later office visits, later bills. You begin to study your child's teeth obsessively; you study the smiley photos, you look for clues. Can I find my own future in this sunny photo from the beach? The speech therapist recommends a bear-shaped vessel with a straw attached; it's cute! But your dog eats the vessel, right after your child throws it--with fury--to the floor. You buy a second bear-vessel. Your child shrieks and throws the bear--again. Your dog eats the (second) bear, and then this process stops. An obvious solution would be to store the bear up high, but in the battle to keep the gates closed, the bl...