The democratic process

Ever since Elias got sick, he has been taking advantage of our sympathies and sleeping in bed with us. Usually I am pretty strict about him sleeping in his own bed, too, though I have been much more lax about it since I've been so busy with school and see him less often. Tonight I got home around 9pm after student teaching all day and then going to class. It was past Elias' bedtime so I sat with him while Harry read "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" (yes, we are still working on the Oz books) and then it was time to go to bed. It was Harry's turn to put him to sleep, but Elias asked me where I thought he should go to bed. I told him he should go to bed in his own bed and Harry agreed. Elias wasn't happy with that answer so he decided to put it to a vote: "Whoever thinks I should sleep in my bed, raise your hand. Whoever thinks I should sleep in mommy's bed, squeeze your nose." Harry and I raised our hands and Elias squeezed his nose. Harry pointed out that Elias was outvoted but Elias said, "Actually the person with one vote wins." At this point I was so charmed and was feeling guilty for not having seen Elias all day that I asked for a re-vote; after all, how often do you get to vote by squeezing your nose? So we voted again and this time I squeezed my nose and Harry raised his hand. Elias looked confused at this point, especially after his insistence on only one vote winning, but then he looked at Harry and said, "Oh. Well, it looks like mommy and me win!" Right now he's sleeping in our bed.