We went to the park at dusk. Our shadows stretched halfway down the sidewalk. Rose and I rode our newly tuned up bikes from the miserable trip to the bike store Monday. Our helmets fit. Our tires were inflated. The trip had cost us nothing but tension. Now, we happily rode. David happily scootered. At the park, the kids played together and were scooped up by other kids looking to play. They made up games on the jungle gym and got to hit whiffle balls. Rose forgot her jacket, but we found it the next morning.

Rose thanked me for making muffins. David echoed her thanks.

On the way to get David's passport renewed (which we did quickly and pleasantly), we started a game where any bad behavior--whining, perpetual asking of why, bad tone of voice, etc.--would mean one kilometer of running. Rose figured out that meant three times around the block, so she earned a half a kilometer back for quick thinking. They jumped at this carrot and stick approach and for several hours no one threatened to hit anyone else and every request for a glass of water was extraordinarily courteous. My tension level dropped.

Before we went into Value Village I told the kids all the behavior I did not want to see--no begging me for toys, no promising to use their own money to buy things I didn't want to buy, no whining period. There was none. We got David an entire new wardrobe including a sweater he already loves.

Rose and I spend 1.5 hours cleaning her room. We got through the bookshelf. When Rose cleans her rooms, she goes through every item deciding whether to keep it, move it to general use, or get rid of it. We cleared two shelves completely. E. Nesbit is going downstairs. A handful of plastic horses are going to mommom's house. She told all the stories about the horses.

Both kids practiced the piano on their own intiative.