Listen nephews. When your Auntie tells you stories about how it is at our house, remember what I am telling you. This is not a haven of peace and quiet where everyone behaves and things work smoothly. We do not sit every evening after dinner and play educational games and everyone is a good sport. Our bedtimes are not always early and embraced. Your cousins do not fall into bed and to sleep right away with prayer still on their lips. It may have seemed that way to Auntie but she only saw us for a few days.

Our house is much like yours. Some nights I do not have dinner ready until some children should have already been asleep. Sometimes your cousins cry or stamp their feet when they are losing at cards. We spend many more evenings struggling over homework, baths, and cleaning up the messy playroom than we do playing
Quiddler.

Auntie was our guest. We set aside time for her, we planned activities that all of us could do with her.

We are more like you than she realizes.