Zoe has a sleep-over guest tonight; her best friend Katie, whose mom just had a baby this afternoon. Their energy is understandably a little bit high — Zoe’s because she has a friend over, Katie’s because she’s suddenly a Big Sister. Their high energy is translating into two little girls still wide awake and out of their beds and and goofing around two hours post bedtime.

So I just went in there and laid down the Daddy Smackdown: computer off, everyone in bed, everyone stays in bed, good night. And then, to take the edge off the smackdown and give them a little leeway to vent some of the frustration I knew they felt, I asked “Who’s the meanest grownup in the room?” expecting all fingers to point to me. Which they did, along with giggles.

And then Zoe added: “You’re the meanest grownup in the whole house, actually.”

:::Crickets chirping:::

I let her live. But it was definitely lights-out after that little crack.

Zoe woke me up for Father’s Day today (so much for sleeping in) to give me the card she had made for me at school. One passage from it leapt out at me:

“I wish you would quit your job.”

Traveling for work sucks sometimes.

Beth’s giving the new digital camcorder a workout. Here’s Zoe on her way to a school recital this afternoon:

And here she is fresh from the shower just before bed a few hours ago:

Traveling sucks sometimes.

Is my kid cute or what? (She’s the one making the lesser of two goofy faces.)
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