I gave Lydia permission to have her friend Ida spend the night tonight on the condition that she clean up her notoriously messy bedroom. I gave her a little kickstart this morning by gathering up all of her dirty laundry and clearing away a few other things, then left her to it. An hour or so later she came downstairs and told me that she was finished.

Lydia: My room’s clean now. Come up and see it.

Me: Okay, just a minute.

Lydia: Well, you might not think it’s so clean, but I think it’s good.

Me: All right.

Lydia: Okay, maybe there’s some trash in the toybox, but …

The rest of whatever she was going to say was covered by my laughter. God love her, there’s not a devious bone in that kid’s body. Every time she tries to put one over one me, she rats herself out before I even have the chance to be suspicious.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, it was good enough and yes, Ida is spending the night.