This is probably the best thing I ever posted on Twitter. The memory is pretty dear to me; I'm sharing it here so it still exists somewhere if that place collapses.
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This is probably the best thing I ever posted on Twitter. The memory is pretty dear to me; I'm sharing it here so it still exists somewhere if that place collapses.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
It still gets shared probably once per month by "wholesome meme" type accounts on IG and Facebook. Each time I get a stream of messages from old friends asking "Is this you?”
I've even seen it shared on here; it's so strange when it racks up hundreds or thousands of reposts for other people. Someone will share a screenshot, maybe add and emoji, and then half the replies mistake it for an actual post.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
The strangest thing is seeing someone else share it, get a bunch of replies, and try to walk this tightrope where they respond without acknowledging that it's someone else's kid.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
I'll add the same comment here that I added when I first shared it on Twitter: The “great dad" replies warm my heart, but my wife was in on it, too. It takes teamwork to run this kind of scam on a savvy kid.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
In fact, it's sort of a long con initiated by my wife, who was clever enough to spend years writing novels like it's no big deal, leaving the kid to wonder what all the fuss is about.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
Anyway, she's 11 now. Her bedtime is later, and she knows we don't mind if she stays up reading. She still loves books, but there are lots of things – messaging with friends, Roblox, etc – competing for her attention.
At some point, though, she figured out how to check out books on Libby, and read them on her iPad. She doesn't need our help at all.
It's the weirdest thing. Someone must have installed the app, entered her library card information, and left the icon there on the home screen.
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Robert McNeesreplied to Robert McNees on last edited by
Tom Gauld in yesterday’s Guardian Books.