The routine is usually dinner done by 6:30 and then it's onto bath time. Lately the boy has been retreating to the shower while the girl dawdles in the bath. If everything goes according to plan, the boy will get out just before the girl. By the time I get the boy dry, the girl is pulling the drain plug. While the boy gets himself pajama-ed, I dry the girl. I then get her into her princess stuff and then we all climb into the boys bed and read books of their choosing. On occasion, when the wifeage is out, we rough house a little. Sometimes we play a game called Thrash Daddy. I get on the family room floor and anything goes. The only rule is that there is no stomping or hitting Daddy and if somebody starts crying, the game is over. I've seen my kids land on their head and I've seen them pull themselves together so that the game can go on. They love it so much that they've really toughed through some gruesome crashes. Suppose I'm getting them ready for life I rationalize. Anyway, last night was one of those nights that saw my wife out of sight, and we went after it. A game that we play rarely but is definitely a fan favorite for all involved is called Baba Throw. They each have a special blanket that are called Baba's. It's a name that my boy came up with for his special blanket at a very young age and we kept it. When the girl arrived, she adopted the word and to this day, I'm not certain she doesn't know that the name is not a real word (a lot of negatives there but I'm sure you get the point). So anyway, the game basically involves them standing on the boy's bed while I whip their wadded up baba's at them as hard as I can throw them. They try and duck and hide and defend themselves with pillows and stuffed animals and I wind up like Juan Marichal and let fly. They get smacked something awful. The harder--the louder they laugh. The boy mainly stays on the bed and has gotten pretty good at diving for cover. Of course I know his moves and can still nail him. The girl will get off the bed so I have to get her in "space". A lot of times she'll streak across the room in full hysterical shriek desperately trying to get to the chair for cover. She never makes it. They always throw me back their baba's for the next round and beg to keep the game going. We only play when Mama is out of the house as I'm sure she'd be horrified. But there isn't a smile missing on one of our faces, and so we play. It was a great session last night and one that will get repeated tonight as the wifeage is again going out. One of the great joys of being a parent is feeling young again. Hope you are well and you never let go of that inner child, yours or theirs.

Johnny GoFast