A story starring my daughter

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. Lots of things going down in the world that have made me not feel like blogging or much else. But, to get back into the swing of things, a story.

About three weeks ago, my evil dog mistook my glasses for a chew toy. The glasses were no longer fit for use and so I loaded the kids in the car and headed for the mall.

I got the glasses ordered and was told they would be ready in an hour. So, Merlin, Gavin and I kill an hour in the mall. We naturally find ourselves at Build-A-Bear, a retail teddy bear store where you get to build the teddy you want. Merlin is desperate for one, and a lightbulb goes off in my brain.

I tell Merlin, who still spends every night in Merideth and I's bed that she can have a Build-A-Bear as soon as she is ready to spend nights in her own bed. She is unsure about this bargain, and when I mention that she has to spend one night in her bed before she gets the bear, the deal seems closed. We walk out of Build-A-Bear empty handed.

Then yesterday, exhausted from a long day of Fourth of July Frolic, Merlin falls asleep in the car, and Merideth carries Merlin inside and puts Merlin in her own bed. Merlin is so tired that she spends all night in her own bed. The next morning, she awakens and begins to yell "Daddy, Daddy." I am asleep (due to my graveyard shift schedule) but Mommy answers her calls. "Yes," says Merideth. Merlin, awake and refreshed apparently says "I get to go to Build-A-Bear today."

Yes, her steel trap of a mind remembered that if she spent a night in her own bed, she would get a Build-A-Bear. So, yesterday afternoon, the family trucked to Build-A-Bear and Merlin got a Bear named Fluffy. Not to be left out, Gavin also got a bear named Lit Dog. I am not sure where Lit Dog came from, but hey, it is not my bear.

Supposedly, Merlin has agreed to sleep every night in her own bed as the condition for getting the bear. As I return home in the wee hours in the morning, I will see if it actually worked.