"When I grow up," the six-year-old said, "I want a job like yours."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", we silently screamed. "You can do so much better! What is it with children trying to follow in their parents' footsteps?"

That was the thing for centuries, wasn't it? The son did what the father did. The father was a fisherman — the son became a fisherman. The father cleaned outhouses — the son swam in feces, too. And in our case... Well, he can do better, that's for sure.

There are some instances when following in the father's footsteps makes more sense. Take Arthur and Roger Kornberg. The father won a Nobel in Medicine. The son, a Nobel in Chemistry. But as much as we often kid ourselves, there is no Nobel on our horizon...

"Let's not decide now," we told the six-year-old. "Do you want to play some Angry Birds?"

"Hooray, Angry Birds!"

Whew. That was a close one.