Strange Questions

Because my wife and I work conflicting hours--I do days, she does nights--we often find ourselves passing like two ships in the night. I'll leave the car running and come in the front door just as she's leaving for her own job.

We never really have time to talk on her work nights. There's usually only enough time to find out if the kids have eaten yet and if she'll be home right after work or if she's got errands to run.

For this reason, I sometimes have to hang onto my more pressing questions for that moment when she walks back into the house. You wouldn't believe some of the strange things I find upon coming home that I can't decode until Alecia returns.

Last night's unanswered question: Why was Josie (our two year-old) carrying around and drinking from a Care Bears sippy cup filled with...hot coffee?

I discovered what was in the cup, by the way, when Josie plopped down next to me on the couch and managed to spill half of its contents into my lap. The coffee was really just lukewarm at that point, and seemed highly diluted with cream and sugar. I'm not sure how long she'd been drinking it, but she seemed to enjoy it.

Such are the mysteries that plague working parents, I suppose.