Last night I was sitting on the couch with Clara. She has been especially disappointed about how late in the evenings I have been forced to work over this past week. So, I mentioned that tonight I would be coming home at a regular time, because her Mom would be leaving for the evening to stay the night at a ladies’ retreat.

“Think of all the fun things we will get to do tomorrow when we have the whole evening and morning to ourselves. What would you and your sister like to do while she is gone?” I asked.

I was rewarded with a very excited smile. then she leaned in to whisper her secret idea into my ear, “We should clean the house.”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“We should clean the house.” She said louder. “All of it.” she clarified with a sweep of her hand.

I choked a little bit, “Maybe we could play cards or something. That would be fun.”

She genuinely gave this idea some consideration, and then replied, “No. I think we should do the clean the whole house thing.”

So, this should be a fun evening. Although, honestly, I doubt we will get much farther than two or three pairs of socks before they start requesting spontaneous ice cream and dancing.