ME: Boy! Come downstairs!
muscle_boy: Yes, Mama?
Me: Son, I was trying to get out of cooking dinner.
muscle_boy: Thanks for being honest.
Me: (laughs) But in my contemplation, I thought that maybe we could make it a group effort. I’ll make a spaghetti sauce, if you’ll make the pasta.
muscle_boy: (punching the air) Yes!1 But, what about Daddy?
Me: Daddy usually cleans up and I think that’s a valid contribution to dinner.
muscle_boy: Okay.
It was the “Thanks for being honest” part that got to me…
1muscle_boy is fond of his own home-made pasta.