Bedtime for Frances

The other night, while we were catching up on Netflix and laundry folding, a little someone came tiptoeing out looking for a late-night snack. It made us think of a favorite book series of ours - sometimes, I think we should have named our daughters Frances and Gloria - though we certainly weren't going to threaten spanking despite how long past her bedtime she had been playing in her room. Instead, we all sat down together at the table and, over some warm milk, and Lorelei told us all about how, when she grows up, she'll have a house with a big yard - "in Europe" - and she'll have a white dog named Woofy and a white-and-black cat named Snowy and we can all come and stay with her "but I'll have allergy medicine for Mommy so she doesn't get sick."

She was really tired the next day. I wonder if she'll treasure the memory that nighttime chat as much as we will.