Effortless Orchestration of The Worst Night in Daniel's Entire Life

Tonight, Madeleine was having a hard time going to sleep - not that she was actually trying - and in fact she kept going into the boys' bedroom, effectively guaranteeing universal sleep-deprivation, so I decided to lie down with her, to encourage her to go to sleep.

Daniel was fine with it, until he figured out that I was going to stay with her for awhile, at which point he complained, pouted, and made all kinds of noises.

But the best reaction came with his subsequent visit, a few minutes after the initial semi-trantrum. He came back into the room and, just prior to issuing two loud and dramatic door-slams, presumably representing Ian as well as himself, he screamed: "This is the worst night of our entire life!"

It reminded me of the time when I took off for graduate school, many years ago, and, just after I left the house for my trip to Minnesota, my much-younger brother yelled: "My life is ruined!"

I'm sorry to make people sad, but it's very sweet that a bit of absence gets such pronounced attention.

(October 13, 2011)