Planning for the future: the basics

Not so long ago, the topic of succession planning came up at work.  As the name implies, it a corporate system for replacing senior management people when they the eventually leave their position.

This got me to thinking about home. We are sort of a mini corporation with Tony and me as part of the senior management team and Sam likely viewing himself as CIC (Child in Charge). Now that I've established our structure, the next step is a plan. 

This involves imagining what Sam’s life might look like one day; a pretty daunting task to be sure.

Because of the magnitude of that assignment, I’ve decided it best to start with the very basics: what Sam likes. So here goes: a quick summary of Sam’s favorites as reported to me last night by Sam. Trust me, this is important stuff to know.  

Favorite color:           Red

Favorite food:            Pizza

Favorite dessert:       Chocolate cake (Chocolate ice cream will do. Coming up closely from behind,

                                     chocolate ice cream.)

Favorite movie:          Shrek 2

Favorite teacher:       MaryKate

Favorite school:         Nashoba Learning Group

Favorite fruit:             Apple

Best friend:                Mommy (Sorry folks, I’m not relinquishing my spot easily.)

Basketball friend:       Dante

Favorite cousin:         Cosmo (Does my brother’s dog count as a cousin? I vote yes.)

Favorite sport:            Football

Favorite girl:               Mommy and Fiona (We are in a dead heat. Hmm.)

Favorite boy:              Sam (Why am I not surprised?)

Favorite place to go:  Nantucket

Other place to go:      To infinity and beyond (Good luck getting there.)

Best place to swim:    Big waves

Car to drive:                Red convertible (Need I say more? See below.)

Favorite season:         Summer (No surprises here.)

Favorite veggie:          Carrots (Really? Could have fooled me.)

Favorite salad:            Arugula (Don’t forget the dressing.)

Favorite game:            Wheel of Fortune (Still waiting for the $500,000+ he's won to date to show up
                                      I figure it takes time to secure that armored truck...)

What to do when

    you are bored:       Tickle Daddy (Preferably when he is sound sleep.)

Favorite song:           You Are My Sunshine

Favorite activity:       Sleeping (Judging from the number of times he was up last night, I question the 

                                    validity of this answer.)

Favorite pet:               Dog. (Preferably big.)

Favorite dog part:      Feet (Yes, it's true. Sam has a foot fetish.)

Best toys:                   Woody and Buz

Favorite TV show:     George Lopez

Most admired:            Shrek (One of my older blogs pretty much explains this one.)

Favorite thing:            Squeezes (Coming up as a close second: big hugs.)

Number of daily

    hugs/squeezes:      5,000 hugs. Every day. (Free advice: start early.)

Favorite day:               Saturday or Sunday (Did you really need to ask?)

Fun thing to do:          Drive the car to go shopping (Close second, go to Papa’s house.)

Favorite book:            The Cat in the Hat

Favorite author:          Dr. Seuss

Best book character:  Sam I Am (Come on. Did you really expect a different answer?)

Shoes or flip-flops:     Flip-flops (Barefoot is even better.)

Favorite flavor:            Chocolate (Was there ever another flavor?)

Favorite saying

  (this week anyway): Don’t give up Mommy, you need to go on.
                                      (Indeed I shall as, long as I can.)

Stay tuned. There’s lots more to come.