Tonight, my 4 yr old girl was finally hopping into bed. As I tried to climb in next to her to read from the books she’d picked out she said,

No Daddy, you kneel (on the floor), I don’t want you to ‘toot’ in my bed.

 I told her I was going to publish that on the web, so here it is. I’m personally proud that we have taught our kids to use toot for flatulence, it would not have been as cute if she’d used any other term.

While I was on my knees, I took the opportunity to say a quick prayer with her for our family and pets: her value-add. I managed to pray with the 6 yr old boy as well, after reading a cowboy story from a 1950’s Reader.

While I didn’t exactly pray with the 10 yr old, we did study for his science test on atmospheric gases. I digressed as usual on the balance of gases and the carbon cycle. We talked about how both fires and animals like ourselves use oxygen to “burn” carbon giving off heat energy (I am warm, fires are hot) and we produce carbon dioxide as a waste of that chemical reaction. Plants like trees absorb that carbon dioxide and use the power of the sun to create leaves, stems and wood to fuel another fire. A by-product of that photosynthesis is also the same oxygen, stripped of it’s carbon and ready for a fire, or to be somebody’s breath of fresh air.

I watched as the wheels of science clicked in his head. Then I mentioned that I believe it was the atomic choreographer I call God who developed this dance between Carbon and Oxygen that maintains the balance of the bio-sphere and fuels, well, life as we know it.

It was a successful night of evangelization in my own home. I only missed a final moment with my bride before she went to sleep. That’s an action item for another day.