“Daddy,” my oldest son said. “You know what we haven’t done this year?”

We were driving to my parents  for Easter dinner, with my wife fast asleep in the passenger seat.

“What’s that?” I asked quietly.

“We haven’t played hookey.”

“What?”

“It’s true,” his brother chimed in. “We haven’t.”

I introduced them to the concept of hookey last year (here’s the story). It was one of those lessons that simply needed to be taught. “You guys missed a day of school when you went to Texas to see your cousins.”

“That was Texas,” my oldest said. “It wasn’t the same.”

“No.” I glanced at my wife. She appeared to be fast asleep, but it’s always hard to tell. “It isn’t.”

“So?” he prompted.

“We’ll have to see what we can do about that.”

They started to celebrate, but I shushed them, pointing to their sleeping momma. She’s not as big a fan of playing hookey as I am.

“Next week?” they whispered.

“Not till after FCAT,” I said. “Then we’ll see.”

“Okay.”

I glanced over at my wife. Her eyes were still closed, but I’m pretty sure I saw a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.