In the Pen

We have a Pack-n-Play playpen/port-a-crib that stays in our living room. Sylvia ends up there when we need to do something in another room, usually the kitchen.

Funny how parents develop "things," little requirements that are part of baby care. One of my "things" is that we must put socks on Sylvia if it's even the slightest bit chilly. One of Dan's "things" is that she must be put in the Pack-n-Play pen if we're leaving the room for longer than a minute or so.

I don't feel the need to pen her as urgently as he does, and he doesn't see the need for socks as clearly as I do. But one of us will say, "that's one of my 'things,'" and the other complies. Ah, the art of compromise.