Shannon Phillips

After we got home from school, Robin sacked out on the sofa. I picked him up and carried him into his room, but when I put him down on the bed he stirred a bit. “Shh, shh,” I said. “It’s okay. You can take a nap.”

“No!” he said, his eyes still closed and his voice thick with sleep. “I not take a nap. I…sit in the blankets.”

“Okay,” I said. “That sounds good too. You do that.”

Then he rolled over and went back to sleep, perfectly satisfied in having gotten his own way. He’s not taking a nap. He’s just—sitting there in the blankets. For a little while.