Robbie spied Justin’s car outside our house and stood vigil for five minutes waiting for Justin to get out of the car.  Then he was rushing (as fast as a toddler can rush) down the stairs to greet Justin at the door.  It melted Justin’s heart to have Robbie so excited to see him.  And it broke mine a little.

You see, there was no screaming at bath time tonight.  In fact, I had decided that I wasn’t even going to broach the topic because I wasn’t in the mood to listen to screaming.  So, I told Justin I’d deal with the dog if he’d put Robbie to bed.  After Barkley went out, I took a book and went upstairs, leaving Justin and Robbie to fend for themselves.

I figured it would be a quick bedtime.  Justin would possibly put Robbie into pajamas.  Maybe read him a story.  Dump him in bed.  But not really.  There was a 20-minute bath time, complete with singing and laughter.  There were two stories.  And Justin read every single word of each book, something I rarely do.  Especially when it’s a stupid book about a lion hoping to get a pair of rubber rain boots and irritating the hell out of his mother on a rainy day.  But Justin read it.  And then he let Robbie change pajamas.

You know what happened next?  Yup.  Robbie went to bed.  No kicking or screaming.  He just went to bed.  Read a few books.  Asked for a piece of cake.  Settled for some cereal and water.  And there were no  tears.  Well, except for when he slammed his finger in a dresser drawer while trying to get his beloved Elmo shirt (see pajama change, above).  But I won’t fault Justin for that…