Serenity. Now.

There have been plenty of times when either my attractive wife or I have yelled out in true Frank Constanza fashion, "Serenity now!" when dealing with our rambunctious three year old. Tonight was oddly different. Instead of resisting every step of the bed time process, Jack slipped subtly into the groove. We came out of the bath and watched an episode of "Ni Hao Ki-Lan" (the Chinese Dora). Jack contemplatively drank his milk laying between my outstretched legs, his own legs crossed.

He didn't fuss when we put on his jammies. He howled with delight at two sessions of the "Hey Now" song (the latter one with me dancing alongside him at his request). He didn't resist brushing his teeth. He was his normal spastic self saying "good night" to mommy in the bedroom but acquiesed to giving her a kiss and moving back into the bedroom.

Here's the kicker, he sat in the chair with me, Bibi Bear and his blanket and snuggled while I read him three books! After the last one, he turned off the light, climbed into the crib (yes, he's still in a crib; we're bad parents) and started playing quietly with my Palm 125 (circa 2000). He's figured out how to light up the screen and enjoys playing with the calculator function.

As I write this (2121 hrs) I can still hear him via the monitor rooting around in his crib but serenely.