"Yo Daddy,"

Our bedtime routine around here goes something like this:

Mommy calls the nearest kid, changes or puts a diaper on said child, wrangles child into his/her pajamas, and then releases child to "Go say 'Good night' to Daddy." Then Mommy repeats the process until all children are dressed for bed.

Now, 'saying Goodnight to Daddy' is a very popular thing. There are privileges to being the first one to get to him, so strangely enough, our children clamor to get ready for bed unless they think they can try saying 'good night' before getting dressed for the occasion (which usually results in that child losing the race to Daddy). You see, Daddy is so much fun to say goodnight to. He might tickle you, or toss you in the air, or roar like a lion with you or any number of similarly fun things. The only problem is, only ONE kid can say goodnight at a time. So, if you weren't first, you have to wait your turn, and if you were first, well, you have to go get into your bed while Daddy repeats the fun with your sibling.

After each child has said goodnight to Daddy, Mommy provides a soother (aka: pacifier), blanket, sippy cup of water and then rattles off a list of forbidden things to do before turning out the light and closing the door.

One memorable time we went through our bedtime routine and Dolly happened to be the first one ready to say 'goodnight to Daddy'. When it was PC's turn Dolly was sent off to bed. Since she had to wait in bed until PC joined her, she started fussing. Sir finished saying good night to PC and gave him to me to put to bed before grabbing the Magic Daddy Communicator and asking Dolly what the problem was. She stated her case, Sir replied and the subject appeared to be ended. Until Dolly started calling out, "Da-aaddy,....".

Sir answered with, "Yeees?" "I need a soother" Dolly insisted, "You have to wait for Mommy to get you one." Sir answered. "Hey! Da-aaddy....". This time Sir made the bright move of answering, "Yo Dolly...," in the same sing-songy voice his daughter had used. Dolly immediately picked up on the new little word and was so excited about using it that she abandoned her bed altogether to come to our bedroom door to say, "Yo Daddy....." with a very mischievous grin on her face.

Both Sir and I couldn't help laughing at what we were going to be hearing for who knows how long and Dolly, very pleased with herself and aware that she had picked up on something we would have been happier to have had picked up some years in the future, could only grin some more and repeat her new discovery. Finally she was re-sent off to bed, the bedtime routine was completed and without further ado, the kids were good and went right to sleep.

It's just too bad that type won't properly express the nuances in the way Dolly kept saying, "Yo Daddy" because reading it isn't nearly as much fun as being there to hear it in the clear little voice of a two year old!