Where Are the Laughs, Folks?

After dinner, hubby took the kids for ices, and I went over to the library to get a supply of books.  I still have the rest of the week to steal some extra moments to enjoy reading, since the Three Amigos are on spring break until Monday.  One of the books I chose was George Burns' 100 Years, 100 Stories, and I immediately dove into it when I got home.  I grew up loving Burns' charming style of comedy.

Around 9:45, I finished the book and was helping Son #1 do a literary analysis of a favorite song lyric as part of his English homework (Jonathan Larson's "Seasons of Love" from his musical Rent).  About five minutes later, hubby came into the living room amid the din of computer generated music and battle noises coming from the Wii, and announced that bedtime had been slipping throughout the school vacation...true, I had let the kids stay up until 11:00 last night because I was Facebook chatting with their cousin...now what was it the night before, hmm?  Anyway, it's really supposed to be 10:00, which is their normal Friday and Saturday bedtime.  

So hubby wanted them to begin cleaning up all of their activities and belongings, so they could get to bed on time for once.  He punctuated the end of his rant by bellowing, "Now get to bed already!"  Son #3, glancing at the Cablevision box which said 9:59, cried petulantly, "But it's not 10:00 yet!"  I barely was able to suppress my laughter, and the other two kids were in the same boat, so they climbed on the couch with me, across the room from their brother (whom they knew was about to get the backlash).  

So Dad said, "Oh, so you think it's funny to mock me?  OK, you go to bed at 8:00 tomorrow night!"  Hearing the loud objections of the little guy, we could no longer contain ourselves, and the peanut gallery exploded into giggles.  Well, Dad went right down the line, with the other two monkeys.  "OK, you go to bed at 8:00 tomorrow night too!  And you!"  He still had the telltale finger of fate extended when he looked at me.  Then he paused, and I caught a twinkle in his eye.  "You too, 8:00 bedtime!"   Of course I was roaring so loudly at this point that any hope of seriousness was long gone.  Just to keep some modicum of authority, he strode out of the room with a flourish.

We who remained eyeballed each other quickly.  Before I ushered them off to bed, I couldn't resist telling the kids the one story from the book that I enjoyed the most.  George Burns explained that several of the Rat Pack and their chums had helped Sammy Davis Jr. along with his solo career, and that when Sammy became famous he began to accrue clothes and jewelry -- and also started golf lessons.  When Burns caught wind of Davis' interest in golf, he invited him to his country club to play a round.  Before they teed off, Burns asked Davis what kind of handicap he had.  " 'The biggest,' Sammy replied.  'I'm a black, one-eyed Jew.' "

Good night, folks!