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.