Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is learning the dangers of teaching history. Once you start to teach history the right way people start to thinking. Once people start thinking, well there is no telling where you might end up.

Take, for example, your Maximum Leader’s beloved second daughter - Villainette #2. Villainette #2 is something of a tomboy. She loves her trucks, and baseball, and superhero stuff. She is also a pretty independent type. She doesn’t go out of her way to please you, but she is very caring and concerned about what you think of her. She is comfortable in her own skin - in so much as a 7 year old can be.

Over the past few weeks your Maximum Leader has been talking about Thomas Jefferson, te Declaration of Religious Freedoms, and the more famous Declaration of Independence. This converstation was begun one day while walking through town and noticing some historical marker thingies that talked about Jefferson coming to Fredericksburg to draft the Virginia Declaration of Religious Freedoms.

Now, Villainette #2 is a pretty independent type. Recently she’s felt a little constrained at home. Her older sister has wanted to “sleep over” in her room. They want to make tents out of chairs and blankets and pretend like they are camping - while still enjoying the surroundings of Villainette #2’s room. Villainette #2 thought this was a good idea, for a while. But it started to wear thin after a few days.

Then the other day a piece of construction paper (sort of ivory colored) with it’s edges cut to make it look more like parchment appeared on your Maximum Leader’s desk. It read, in the clearest 7 year old handwriting:

Decaration of Indpedis

Do no came in [Villainette #2’s] room when [Villainette #2] neds sum time alone. Ples dont broler me when a file like I want to be alon and no slepover in my room for 6 days

[Villainette #2] list of Indepedis

[signed Villainette #2]*

Villainette #2 was declaring her independence from her older sister’s self-invited “sleep overs.” Mrs. Villain and your Maximum Leader discussed the matter with both girls and worked things out… Villainette #2 has her room to herself and is feeling much better.

Villainette #1, in the meanwhile, has discovered that the Wee Villain (aged 2) enjoys her “sleep overs” even more than did her sister. So all is well.

Well… All is well until Villainette #2 tries to declare independence from your Maximum Leader’s discipline when she is about 13…

Carry on.

For those of you who don’t read 7 year old. It reads:

Declaration of Independence

[signed Villanette #2]

Your Maximum Leader debated if he would but the uncorrected declaration up on the blog. He debated this because some of you out there might have prodigy 7 year olds who write much more clearly. In fact, normally Villainette #2 is a better speller, but on this she must have spent more time making the paper look right than proofing her work.