Third Time's a Charm

It''s not enough to say "I love you" once. We must say it over and over and over again. Both the speaker and the hearer don''t understand the implications of the words "I love you" until they are said and heard over and over again.

"Third time's a charm," we say to our passenger, smiling nervously as we try "one more time" to get the car to start on that snowy morning. "Third time's the charm" is the comfort we offer to a 5-year-old when the child timidly approaches the new two-wheeler after already weathering two crashes. "Third time's a charm" is the mantra batters recite when they've already got two strikes against them.

The truth is, it seems that sometimes good and bad things really do like to happen in threes. It really does take three times to get going, work out, sink in and make an impact.

Anyone working or living with children (which in some cases seems to include all those between the ages of birth and 85) knows that messages, directions, orders, everything has to be repeated multiple times before anything seems to register. Has anyone ever taken out the garbage after being asked only once? How many of your children clean their rooms after one invitation? How many of you write thank-you notes after...