Why?

Nicole was on nights last night so went to bed in the afternoon to get herself slept up.

Her hayfever is bad at the moment, and she took some drugs to alleviate the symptoms, but they made her quite drowsy so her sleep was considerable.

Meanwhile I put Eloise to bed in the hope of knuckling down myself to get an assignment done, but nothing doing - she wasn't sleepy and after half an hour the plaintive shouts of "I'm ready to come out now, Daddy" and "Let me, out, NOW" began, and I relented.

So while Nicole gently slumbered we painted, drew, played with Playdoh and so on and so forth.

You'll no doubt be interested to know, and to be honest I can't remember if I've told you already, that Eloise has discovered the word "Why."

As in:

Me: Bedtime
Eloise: Why?
Me: Because if's time to go to sleep
E: Why?
Me: Because sleeping is good
E: Why?
Me: Because it keeps you happy and growing, and me sane
E: Why?
Me: It's not clearly understood, but it's thought that sleep, as well as allowing batteries to recharge, helps the brain to collate information
E: Why?
Me: Well it's good to recharge batteries so we don't get into a bad mood later on
E: Why?
Me: Because bad moods are bad
E: Why?
Me: Because they mean shouting and general unpleasantness
E: Why?
Me: It's just part of the human condition
E: Why?
Me: It's just one of those things
E: Why?
Me: JUST BECAUSE, ALL RIGHT?

Of course it works both ways, but the other way round is significantly shorter:
E: You have to do it this way
Me: Why?
E: Because you're naughty.
Me: Oh.

Maybe I should try harder and see how she likes it.