Children’s affection can turn a lousy day into a reason to smile

By David McElroy · May 25, 2026

I was in a lousy mood by the time I arrived at a fast food place for dinner late Sunday. I hadn’t finished with clients until around 9:30 p.m. and I was annoyed by several things that had happened earlier.

Nothing much had gone right for me Sunday. I considered it a bad day.

I had been seated alone for a few minutes when I heard an excited high-pitched voice call my name.

“David!” called out 11-year-old Sophie, who ran over to my table to hug me. “I didn’t know you would be here!”

She was genuinely excited. It turned out that her mother had some business to take care of and she brought Sophie — and younger brother, Noah — for the trip.

Sophie ran back to the table where she had left her purse and a book. She told her 6-year-old brother, who came running.

“Mr. David!” called out Noah.

He jumped into the seat where I was sitting and wrapped his arms around me. He was very happy and didn’t want to let go.

I know the children’s parents and I sold the family a house a few years ago. I still see them occasionally — and the kids always know I’m eager to see them and give them attention. I bring them small treats from time to time when I know we’re going to be in the same place.

I always talk to Sophie about what she’s been reading. Noah always wants to play. His little battery never seems to run down. He’s a rambunctious 6-year-old who never wants me to stop with whatever ridiculous games we come up with to play.

Tonight, Sophie wanted to talk about Persephone, from Greek mythology. She had just run into a reference that said Persephone had been a princess — and this new information seemed fascinating to her.

Their mother briefly stopped by to make sure they weren’t bothering me.

“Noah is hurting me,” I jokingly told her of the child in my arms.

“I can tell,” she said with a big smile as she moved back to her business.

I probably spent half an hour with Sophie and Noah. Then I had to leave since I still had things to get done. Both of the kids gave me hugs as I left.

As I walked toward my car, I realized how different I felt than when I had walked in less than an hour before.

My facial muscles were a little sore from smiling so much. My heart felt fuller. My steps seemed lighter. I felt happier.

The things that had happened earlier in the day — the things that annoyed me — didn’t change. I was still frustrated about them.

But I felt entirely different now.

It wasn’t a bad day. It was a really good day.

Because Sophie and Noah were happy to see me. Their attention and affection had turned my gloom into serenity.

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The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

I have no use for the theocratic and repressive government of Iran. The people who run the country are cruel at best and evil at worst. The Iranian people deserve freedom. But I have no personal quarrel with anybody in Iran. While I’m not thrilled about a future Iranian government having nuclear weapons, I’m just as concerned about nukes in the hands of politicians in Israel, Pakistan, India, China and Russia. I’m not even thrilled with the U.S., Britain and France having them, either, because I don’t trust any politicians to be responsible with such terrible weapons. All I can say with certainty is that American taxpayers have no business attacking Iran, especially since we’re being forced to pay for this attack in order to benefit the politicians of Israel — and nobody else. If Middle Eastern countries want to fight among themselves, that’s none of my business. It’s not the business of the U.S. government, either. I have no quarrel with anybody in Iran — and having the government which claims to represent me launch an unprovoked attack against a sovereign country will only make all Americans less safe in the near future. This attack is poorly conceived and morally unjustified. Remember that when the Iranians launch attacks that we will then condemn as “terrorism.” What the U.S. is doing right now looks like terrorism to me. And let’s not forget that the attack is the latest in a long line of unconstitutional wars by various U.S. presidents — who have no legal power to declare war on their own, according to the U.S. Constitution.

A child having a tantrum understands only one thing: Did I get my way or not? He doesn’t understand the issues involved. He doesn’t understand the reasons that went into a decision. He doesn’t understand any of the things that mature and reasonable adults have to understand in order to live healthy lives. By his reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down his disastrous tariff scheme, Donald Trump shows himself to be — once more — a screaming child having a tantrum. Outside the world of mob bosses who expect to get their way every time, normal adults don’t act this way, but Trump isn’t normal. He’s an angry and vengeful man who has narcissistic personality disorder. And we are in danger as a result. Trump doesn’t understand the legal issues involved in this ruling. He doesn’t understand economics. He doesn’t understand rule of law. He doesn’t understand that he can ever be wrong. All he understands is that he didn’t get his way. And he is now a narcissistic and raging little boy who also happens to hold life-and-death power over most humans on this planet. He’s dangerous — and the system which gives him that power is even more dangerous.

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