“Babe, why did you get out of bed so many times last night?”

“Because I didn’t want to go to sleep.”

“Well, you need to sleep because it helps your body grow.”

[Ponders, then gets excited.] “And then, when you grow, grow, grow, you get really, really big and you can eat grown-up things. Like some gum.”

I asked Lu’s teacher if I could bring anything special for their Valentine’s Day snack and she said to bring something healthy, instead of something sweet, and “not muffins, because they don’t like them, they just smash them up.” (Note: last week, I brought healthy muffins Lu and I made together.)

Last night, I spent a couple of hours making whole wheat blueberry pancakes, sweetened with honey, made in the shape of HEARTS, enriched with wheat germ and LOVE. I brought them to her classroom and set them on the table with all the other snacks: a ****ing chocolate cake, muffins and cookies. What chance does a whole wheat pancake stand against such sexy snacks?

Next time, for a special treat, I am bringing candy laced with cocaine. I bet they won’t be smashing that s**t up.

I have been in Chicago since Tuesday night at the Retail Advertising Conference, shut in this giant Hilton with a bunch of people who kind of scare me. Sort of like “The Shining,” only with advertising people instead of ghosts. It is so cold here that last night, there was frost on the inside (yes, inside) of the windows of our cab.

I am really missing Lucy. Tuesday morning, I was packing, getting the house ready for the carpet guys and generally doing the manic thing I do before I go out of town (“Where are the tights I bought?” “Are they in your suitcase?” “NO, they were right here.” After 15 minutes of frantic searching, I find them. In my suitcase.)

As I ran around, she and Jason were in bed watching Sesame Street. She said, “Mom, come snuggle in bed with us.” I really did not have time. I was missing a shoe. The carpet guys would be there any minute. I had two of Seth Godin’s books to read before 4:15 the next day.

I got in bed with them anyway.

She painted me dinosaurs and buildings. She used all the colors. She even signed her name (as illegibly as any artist).