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A few days ago, right after dinner with my kid and Partner 1, my dog was sitting in the kitchen, staring at me expectantly. I figured that she wanted some cheese, and since she hadn’t had any that day she could have some. I retrieved the cheese from the fridge and said to the dog, rather sternly, “come over here.”

Partner 1 was on her way in from taking out the trash and she got weak in the knees and stumbled a little.

Apparently my stern voice has an effect on people. Who knew?