It was an officer who had come to tell me that my youngest son--about 12 at the time--had been seen with a couple of other boys running away from a house in the neighborhood after ringing its bell. He had friends for a sleepover that night in the apartment over our freestanding garage where they could come and go without anyone in the house knowing about it.

Boy, that was embarrassing. Last time he was allowed to host a sleepover out there for quite some time.