People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke

Sometimes, the day starts with disciplining.  

With cajoling, prodding, pleading, threatening.  

With threats of consequences, of no treats, of no fun stuff, of no bike riding.  

Counting, 1, 2, 3, "you better get over here now," "why must you make a mess every time?," "stop hitting your brother."

Grab an arm, scoot them to the time-out chair, pick them up.

Just B-E-H-A-V-E.

And the day ends, and they are lying still in their beds, mouth half-open, soft child-like snoring.  And I feel bad for every bad thought, for every not-so-nice word, for every time I thought about how much this sucks for me.  

My boys -- my three boys.  Tomorrow, I will be more patient, more understanding.  More fatherly.

As long as they behave...  :-)

Elections, the kid version

This morning in my household, my wife and I were very excited about voting in the elections, and we scurried about trying to get ready so I could go out and vote with our copy of the filled-out sample ballot, then when I returned home, I could hand off the sample ballot so Sarah could go vote later today.

During this, I engaged both older boys in the election. Note Casey is 5, Brady is 3:
Me: (with enthusiasm) "Hey Casey, do you want to go vote with me?"
Casey: "No."
Me: (a little disappointed) "Why not? I'm going to go vote for Barack Obama, don't you want to come?"
Casey: "No."
Me: (a bit desperately) "C'mon, seriously, why not?"
Casey: (matter of factly) "Mommy is making pancakes this morning, and I'm hungry."Me: (feeling foiled but with an ace up my sleeve...) "I tell you what, you can have one piece of Halloween candy on the way there if you go with me..."
Casey: (without missing a beat) "I don't think Mommy would like that."

*sigh* OK, let's try with Brady.

Me: "Brady, do you want to go vote with me?"Brady: "Daddy, I'm going to vote off Barack Obama." (we had been watching Survivor, and clearly he's got these notions confused!)

Alright alright, I'll go by myself. But let me blog for posterity so that my children will one day read this: you could have said, "Back in 2008, I was actually THERE when my Dad voted for Barack Obama." but now all you have is memories of pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs, and Survivor episodes. Hmm, who *did* get the better deal here? :-)