Bedtime for Mr. Charming

Despite the fact that his bed is up against a wall, Carson definitely wakes up each morning on one side of it or the other. Julie has taken to referring to him as "Mr. Charming" when he wakes up on the pleasant side of the bed. And, we often ask him if Mr. Charming is going to be around for various events.

This evening, Mr. Charming went to bed. He started out by reading three of his BOB Books First books to me while lying in his bed. He was supposed to read just one while waiting for Julie to track down his Batman book. She...forgot. So, he kept reading to me. Finally, he went looking for her. After a five-minute search, they decided the book was not going to turn up tonight, and Carson decided that he would rather read another book to Julie and me rather than having me read a book to him. I was on the verge of drifting off throughout the book (the kid has a nice little cave for a bed -- very sleep-inducing for anyone...who is not a five-year-old with an active imagination). When he finished reading, Julie went to leave. The following conversation ensued:

Julie: "Now, if Dad falls asleep while you're snuggling, just come tell me and I'll get him up and send him to his own bed."

Carson: "I know how to get him up."

Julie: "How?"

Carson: "I'll give him a Wet Willy."

Tim: "I heard that!"

A conversation then ensued in which Julie pointed out that I was (allegedly) the person who taught every member of our family what a Wet Willy was!

Mr. Charming then announced that he wanted a group hug with both of his parents. We began discussing how impressive it is that Carson, although he only started reading last week, is already up to book number 9 (there was also a little bit of showing off where he was doing simple addition problems for us). Carson has also continued to try to play chess with Benton, and he has picked up all the moves, but, predictably, consistently gets beaten by a big brother who has zero interest in throwing a game to make his little brother feel good about himself. This typically results in Carson bemoaning how stupid he is and how bad he is at the game. Needless to say, he's a sharp little cuss...with a sharp older brother, and he doesn't understand the difference between "relative" and "absolute" when he is evaluating himself.

So, as we were lying in bed with him, we started chatting about how many things he does well. He started telling us how much 5 + 5 is and 4 + 4, and that evolved into me asking him how much 1 + 2 was and then 2+ 3. As this lazy quiz was going on -- Carson was in hog heaven as his bedtime was being extended in the dark -- Julie threw him a curveball: "Do you know how to make your sister go to sleep?" (Alana was chattering away in the next room):

Carson: "Yep."

Julie: "How?"

Carson: "Sing her a song."

He then climbed out of bed and, while Julie and I lay in his bed listening, proceeded into Alana's room and sang two songs to her: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and You Are My Sunshine. He then asked her if she wanted her door open or closed and returned to his room, where Julie and I were feigning sleep (to see what he would do).

He walked back out of the room and into our room, where Benton was reading, and told Benton it was time for him to head to bed. After a brief discussion (we couldn't hear the specifics), Carson returned to his room, inserted his finger in his mouth, tiptoed up to his bed, bent over...and busted out laughing. Thus, saving Julie from a Wet Willy!

All of that, of course, earned him an unsolicited 5 minutes of one-on-one snuggling with me.

Mr. Hyde will return, we're sure, but tonight, we had Mr. Charming!