The other night, as dinner was winding down, I decided to run a little experiment with the kids. The food was all gone (even the vegetables), and J was in her "stuff as much fruit down them as they can eat" mode. I think I’ve mentioned this before. It consists of the kids saying "all done" and J saying "how about some grapes?"

In any event, during a pause in the action, I made my eyes as big as they could go and slumped way down in my chair so my chin was just barely above the table. I then said in the quietest most pleading voice I could manage "Momma, could I have some Rash?"

C stopped eating mid bite, staring at me. Then he looked at his momma, "Momma, could daddy have some rash? Please? Some Rash?"

J was torn between laughing at us and being Not Happy – so I continued. "Please, just a little bit?" I held my fingers up so she could see what a "little bit" was.

C leaped right on to the bandwagon without a second’s hesitation. "Please, just a little bit? A little Rash? Please?"

After a pause, he had a moment of inspiration and added "Me too? Could I have some Rash too? Please?" He nodded. "Just a little bit. A little bit of Rash for Daddy and Me?"

N must have caught on at that point, because he put both hands over his head and shouted "Cream!"

This was too much for momma. She burst out laughing.

We got our Rash. More importantly, though, the pattern has been set: It’s the guys against the girls – and there’s only one girl.

It’s good to be the daddy.