Smiley Anders for Sept. 7, 2012

Just thought I’d remind you parents about what you’re going to be facing from your little ones in the coming years:

B.J. tells this story:

“After spending several nights at our home during the storm, my daughter-in-law was getting her 3-year-old daughter settled in for the night.

“Here is the conversation:

“Mom: ‘OK, Grace. Let’s say our night-night prayers.’

“Grace: ‘No, Mom. Why don’t you just text him?’ ”

Game face

Mary Boudreaux suggests that you wear your Sean Payton mask to the first Saints home game Sunday against the Washington Indigenous People.

(You DO have a mask of the Saints’ coach-in-exile, don’t you? If not, why not?)

Says Mary, “Wouldn’t it be great to look up into the stands and see Sean’s face everywhere?”

Damp good wins

Joining our discussion of Les Miles’ sideline attire, Myles Sweeney points out that Les’ purple windbreaker (which appears to be water resistant) might protect him from “rowdy team members who could get excited and drench the coach with ice and Gatorade” after a big win.

(While such impromptu baths might be unpleasant for the coach, especially in cold weather, LSU fans are no doubt hoping to see a few of them this season.)

On getting gas

T. Med Hogg notes a headline in the Sunday Advocate: “Natural Gas Vehicles Pushed.”

His comment: “I knew natural gas vehicles was a bad idea, but now they won’t even run and someone has to push.

“They could use a tow truck.”

“Stay thirsty, little friend”

Rodney Vega, of Donaldsonville, tells of a dinner in a Mexican restaurant in California that left his friends who live there wondering about Louisiana kids’ upbringing:

“Son Bennett, then 18 months old, was given the usual coloring supplies and dove right in.

“My wife Natalie asked him if he wanted a quesadilla. Without looking up, he said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

“Soon after, the server returned with our drinks, including a lemonade for our son.

“Bennett looked quizzically at the adults’ beer glasses and asked, ‘Where’s my beer?’”

Turns out Bennett thought his mom had said, instead of quesadilla, “case-uh-beer-a.”

Get used to it

G.L. Dighton says we shouldn’t worry that the Interstate 10 bridge is still called the “new bridge,” even though it was built in the ’60s:

“I don’t know how long a bridge is ‘new,’ but I do know with churches it is at least 200 years.

“When we lived in Voorburg, The Netherlands, its ‘niew kerk’ (new church) was built in the 1800s, while the ‘oud kerk’ (old church) was a couple of hundred years older than that.

“So based on that example, I predict the I-10 bridge will continue to be the ‘new bridge’ for a long, long time. Say a hundred years or so, or until the new loop bridge is completed. Whichever comes first.”

Thank-you notes

Janet Leveron says during Isaac “some of my elderly relatives were evacuated from their homes, and because of medical complications were sent to LSU.

“I would like to thank the staff and volunteers. One of my relatives said ‘the people were wonderful’ and they could not have been treated better.

“Having to leave home can be traumatic, but knowing that people really care makes it much easier.”

Special People Dept.

• Harry W. Wilson, of Denham Springs, celebrates his 97th birthday Friday.
• Netta Bergeron celebrates her 97th birthday Friday.
• Henry Gueho of Livonia celebrates his 90th birthday Friday. He is an Army veteran of World War II.
• J.G. and Montez Dunaway, of Central, celebrate their 65th anniversary on Saturday.
• Lewis G. and Eva L. Craft celebrate their 60th anniversary Friday. He’s a veteran of three wars, serving in the Army Air Forces, later the Air Force, from 1944 to 1967. She’s a retired registered nurse.
• Marvin and Jan McConnell celebrate their 59th anniversary Saturday.
• Joseph F. and Barbara Littlejohn, former Chalmette residents who moved to Ethel after Hurricane Katrina, celebrate 57 years of marriage Sunday.
• Huey and Eloise Dufrene celebrate their 55th anniversary Friday.
• Harold and Jane Brou celebrate their 55th anniversary Friday.
• Julaine and Isby Schexnayder, of New Iberia, celebrate 50 years of marriage Saturday.

Initial reaction

Joe Guilbeau, of Plaquemine, says that in addition to Caller ID, he’d like to equip his phone with Caller IQ, “so I could determine the intelligence of the callers before I speak to them.”

Parting shot?

Janice Barrilleaux wonders if that was really a typo she saw in a recent obituary.

It mentioned the deceased’s five “bothers-in-law.”

Janice says it not only made her laugh out loud, “it made me wonder if those guys really knew how he felt.”

Write Smiley at [e-mail]. He can also be reached by fax at [phone] or mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.