So it is last night at about 10pm. I had put the kids to bed and watched a bit of tv as a treat. I had a few phone calls and needed to return some that I hadn't been able to pick up earlier. The reason being was that right when I sent my kids to bed, my daughter threw the dear-god-she's-gonna blow kind of temper tantrum I hadn't seen in a while. Now, girlfriend can throw down, so I have learned from past experience it is a battle of wills. See, I was being a terrible mother because I was saying no, that she could not sleep on the couch. Now from time to time, I let them sleep in my bed. But never the couch. So this was weird anyway. I flat out told her she would not win this arguement. She screamed. She cried. She literally stomped her foot. I stayed calm. "No way Soph. I am not going to bed yet, and you are not sleeping on the couch." This lasted a good ten minutes. And Noah, wonderful and helpful brother that he is, said lovely phrases from his bedroom just loud enough, "Sophie, you are mental! Sophie what is your problem?! You are seriously mentally off. I think you need some kind of medication. You are such a freakshow!" As you can imagine, that really HELPED. Finally, I said, "Do you want to just sleep in my bed?" People, the tears INSTANTLY were gone. "Yes, mommy, I guess I could do that." Sniff. "Thank you mommy. I love you." And she was asleep in .2 seconds. Yes, I think I had been conned, thank you for pointing that out. So while I stood firm on the no couch thing, I have to wonder, was her in my bed the plan all along? I think back to me batting my eyelashes at the big, bad building inspector and getting my way. Yes, this child is undeniably mine....

Oh, and one final note. After all this, and you sit down and have some amazingly decadent chocolate cake that you HID, YES HID from your children, (and yes, the REAL reason there woudl be no couch sleeping on) and decide to either read two children's decorating magazines for ideas (oh FUN!!), or the IRS's 27 page Guide to Starting a Small Business and Recordkeeping (Oh, not so fun, but informative and responsible), well guess which one will put you in a near coma in about 15 minutes? Yeah, right. Those IRS writers sure are a crazy bunch!