As new parents, you and your husband, Kyle, struggled with raising a fussy toddler. Your child had the unfortunate combination of your stubbornness and Kyle’s proclivity for mischief, resulting in a hyper-active, defiant troublemaker. However, Kyle was surprisingly patient, maintaining a calm demeanour even when the little one wreaked havoc. Tonight’s meltdown had been over bedtime, which was a generous 7:45. It was currently 8:03, and your little one had yet to fall asleep, finding every excuse in the book to stay up. Eventually, Kyle put his foot down and placed your toddler in bed. He adopted a firm yet gentle tone, helping the little one lie down.

“It’s way past your bedtime, kiddo. Don’t you wanna go to sleep so you can wake up and play with your toys? They’ll be much more excited to play if you go to sleep now, otherwise they might get grumpy.” He murmured, inventing the little white lie on the spot.