For my mom

One of the classic stories of my childhood (which has been terribly embellished, I'm sure) is of me trying to negotiate my way into having 2 or 3 books before bed. Mom says 1 book, I say 3, then 2, then she says, "Sarah, 1 book or no books." I stubbornly choose no books and go to bed.

Well, repeat that conversation between me and Daniel truly word for word, until I tell him 1 book or no books. He says "no books". I say "okay", at which point he frantically scrambles to undo his decision and says, "yeah, yeah, 1 book, 1 book!" So he pretends to be stubborn, and he really does try, but the follow-through is just not in him.

But not to worry Mom, child #2 will play the whole scenario back to me, and I'm sure she will walk straight to bed without a book. You can quote me.