"Family" Vacation

While tucking in Max and Wild Thing on vacation one night I was met with quivering lips and watery eyes.

Me: Hey. What's wrong? Do you want to talk about something?

Wild Thing: This is supposed to be a FAMILY vacation! Five people are missing!

Me: (confused for a millisecond) Who did we...

Wild Thing: (holding up her fingers as she counts them off and using her best you-totally-betrayed-me voice) Juliette! Sparks! Sandy! Flower! Figure!

(Juliette and Sparks are betta fish; the others are hermit crabs. They are all being well taken care of by our good friends while we are away lest you think I sold them to the highest bidding chemical plant for testing. Which is apparently what my children thought.)

At this point, both children are crying and shooting laser beams through me. How could I? Am I so heartless that I would simply leave town without our five people?

I did what any mother worth her salt would do: I laughed out loud. I could not help myself. They were clearly over-tired and milking it for everything they had. It was hilarious. The more I laughed, the angrier they became. The angrier, the more tears. The more tears, the more laughter. I had to have Husband go in to calm them down because I could not do it. That's just the kind of momma I am.