Reply #23: Well, I think the previous episode involved a young daughter who is on the edge of puberty.

[Radio_Lady]

We learned that she got her period at age 11, is that correct?

So her biology is signaling her into adolescence, a time when she is destined to pull away from both her mother and father, and become her own person. That's the real job of adolescence, and with it comes turmoil and mixed feelings. Daughters cling to their fathers before puberty. Now comes a time of total biological upset when she must drive him away and find her own mate.

Also, she has seen her parents distress and it may be unconscious, but she knows that their union is in trouble. You can't hide things from children. They find out in all kinds of ways what's really going on.

On a lark, she sees the brightly colored teddy suit and convinces her father to buy it. He is clueless on almost everything else... would he have picked a different present? Sure, with difficulty. But he didn't.

Another motivator might be that children of completely divorced parents ALMOST always want the parents to make up and get together again. Trust me.. it is universal.

Or, maybe the kid just liked purple and black! (LAUGHTER)

Peace, Love and Happiness (Lest anyone think I just made this up -- this is the motto we used on my children's show in Florida in the 1950s.)

Radio Lady Ellen in Oregon