The Games We Play

Miss Mouse has continued her enthusiasm for the "pretend we're sleeping" game and currently enjoys it most when I lie on the couch, feigning sleep, while she covers me up with fabric scraps.

As the game has evolved, Miss Mouse has gotten to be increasingly fierce about enforcing its baby-created rules. The number one commandment is: "Thou Must Actually Pretend to Be Asleep" -- which means that eye opening is strictly prohibited.

Should she catch me peeking, my wee tyrant issues a very stern "Mama SLEEP" and glares ferociously.

Unfortunately, this behavior tends to give me the giggles. Yesterday afternoon, I was trying valiantly to pretend to be asleep, but absolutely could NOT stop laughing. You know the kind of giggles I'm talking about. They're the irrepressible, bubble-up-uncontrollably, embarrass-you-in-a-meeting, make-you-snort kind of giggles.

So there I was, lying on the couch, shaking with mirth, tears running down my face while my increasingly irritated child continued to repeat "Mama SLEEP" -- which only made the whole situation worse.

Fortunately, I managed to get myself under control before I provoked an all-out tantrum from my Mouse. I'm going to have to get better at that, clearly!