Tucking the boys in

Scene 1: Dining room, late dinner. Dad editing lecture notes for tomorrow's online class, Boys asking for more beans and kumara. The late hour is formally announced and there is a rush to brush teeth and get boys to bed by 9pm.
Scene 2: Bathroom. 9:15pm, teeth brushed, Isaac declares he is hungry. He also has a slight cough, so 1 tsp of generic cough supressant has been administered post-brushing. Since glucose is an ingredient, Isaac is given a banana since teeth need to be rebrushed.
Scene 3: 9:20pm. Boy's bedroom. Isaac calls out for a snuggle and backrub. The request for Dad is heard. Dad wanders into the bedroom.
Scene 4: 9:21pm. Boy's bedroom. Dim light from hallway. Isaac gratefully receiving a snuggle and back-rub. The roll-over indicative of "I'm done, thank you" occurs by about 9:26pm.
Scene 5: 9:27pm. Boy's bedroom. Dad rises from a comforting 5 min slumber with the Isaac-Bear, wanders toward Nik's bed to share some love, but is cut short by a voice.
Scene 6: 9:28pm. Nik, wrapped up tight in a sleeping bag and posing to be asleep, but not really at all, has sensed the approach of the Dad and announces with eyes shut, "Dad, I just want to go to sleep; I don't need a backrub; I do love you, but just go do your work"--a quick peck to the forehead visible through the small hole created by the tightly wound drawstring of the sleeping bag.
Scene 7: 9:30pm. Dad back at laptop with multiple windows open. Course notes obscured by the Blog. These words of a 9-year-old will be used to the parental advantage someday, and they are documented here.