11 October 2008

Good Clean Fun


Guess who had a good long romp in the dirt today?

01 October 2008

Two kinds of Daddy Magic

Tonight, Eliza was having a hard time settling down, so after 40 minutes of poking my head into the room to remind her to lie still and be quiet, I decided it was time for action. I went and very soberly sat next to her.
"Eliza, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this."
Curious and apprehensive eyes stared back at me.
"I'm going to have to use my Daddy Magic ring. I don't usually like to do this, but it looks like I'm going to have to. It makes your eyes very heavy and your breathing slow down. Be very careful when I put my hand on you, because it's going to make you fall asleep right away."
"OK, Daddy," a little unsure about all this.
I put my hand on her chest. "Feel your eyes closing?"
A nod, yes.
I closed my eyes to concentrate on the Daddy Magic, otherwise known as power of suggestion.
When I opened them 30 seconds later, she was fast asleep.
That's the good kind of Daddy Magic.

Then there was Caroline, who was also having trouble getting to sleep. The Daddy Magic Ring did not work for her. It wore off right away, and when I returned to check on her, there she was in the hallway, drawing on the wall with markers. "Caroline! You should be sleeping, not drawing on the walls."
This kind of Daddy Magic produced instant tears. My first thought was, let the regret and tears teach her a lesson. When I went in talk to her about it, it was a different story, though.

"Daddy, I was drawing a wreath of flowers, so carefully."

"Caroline, why did you draw on the walls? You know you're supposed to draw on the white board, not the walls."
"I don't like it when people leave the marker lids off and color all over the board. That's why I drew on the walls."
"But Caroline, the marker doesn't come off the walls."
"You can just use the pink eraser."
"That doesn't work either."
"You can just wipe it with a sponge."
"That doesn't work either."
"Oh. What can you do? I want Mommy."
"I'll try some alcohol. Now pretend to go to sleep so you can fool her when she comes in."
When Hannah went to go check on her a few minutes after, she was fast asleep.
That's dark Daddy Magic turned light.