I know there are so many expressions my kids have that are funny and mixed up, and I try to remember them all but I know that inevitably I forget too many of them. With that in mind, I don’t want to forget what Breanna asked me tonight.

She wouldn’t settle down to sleep at all. Part of me suspects she’s catching Hayley’s cold, because that’s just usually what happens, but she’s not showing physical signs of that being the case – yet. Another part of me is filled with horror because I worry it means it’s time to start weaning her off of her naps because it shouldn’t take over an hour to get your kid to sleep. I’ll miss the naps, dammit.

Anyway, I couldn’t keep trying to convince her to sleep because I had to take a whining dog out to pee and I had a couple of things I had to do as well. I brought her out to the couch and told her to wait for me. I ran out with the dog to the front lawn, let her do her thing, and came back up to find Breanna sitting on the floor. I told her she should at least hop on the couch and lie down, so she did and I covered her with a blanket and turned off the lamp, leaving only my desk lamp on.

She asked for some water so I brought it in and put the lamp back on so she could see what she was doing. Apparently she preferred the darkness because she looked up, squinted, then shook her head and asked, “Mommy? You turn the dark on again?”

Not turn off the light. Turn the dark on.

I want to remember that one.