when I started this blog five years ago, I was a pet sitter and the name animal-crackers made sense. now I'm a stay-at-home-dad and freelance writer, but rather than confuse everyone by getting a different blog, it's just easier to keep posting things here.

Josh woke up screaming a little after 11 last night. He was inconsolable and when I tried to hug him and said: "No don't make me."

That would probably be less upsetting if Josh hadn't come home from school yesterday with a black eye. (More on that later.)

Andrea eventually calmed him down and he slept through the night.

This morning he mentioned that he hadn't slept well.

"I had bad dreams."

"What did you dream about," I asked.

"I dreamed about monsters and I didn't have any monster spray."

"And what were the monsters doing?"

"They were taking my toys," Josh said.

"Were they trying to make you do stuff?"

"Yes, they were trying to make me do their chores," he said.