Overheard in the back seat

We are all teachers at heart. We are all students.
My children illustrated this to me as we drove to Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon.
Oh, Chuck. E.
Land of the loud. Land of the tantrums and machines that eat quarters and squirmy bodies all trying to squirm around each other at once.
I hate it there. Only one thing can get me inside the land of Giant Singing Mice.
Guilt.
Yep, guilt.
I was a cranky mother this morning. If everyone had left me alone and let me read and soak in a bathtub I would have been perfectly pleasant. Problem is, they didn't. And I wasn't.
I was just down and out tired on this lovely President's Day. So after naptime I felt so guilty for being a boring mother that I packed them up and took them to Chuck E. Cheese.
On the drive there my morning irritability was mingling with my dread of our destination, but I set my face bravely forward like a true pioneer making a courageous journey of sacrifice.
The Dancer started to whine and the Cowgirl, mature and learned as she is now, began passing down her wisdom. (She has been with me longer)

Cowgirl: Now you shouldn't ask too many questions because mommy is tired and if you make her in a cranky mood we won't have any fun at Chuck E. Cheese.
Dancer: Cranky mood?
Cowgirl: Yes. That means you have to sit like this (strikes a statue-like pose and holds her breath)
Dancer: Because she's cranky?
Cowgirl: Yes and if you make her upset she will say that she is going to die from being frustrated. But she won't really die. She just says that.

I laughed out loud at that point and for the first time today felt truly un-cranky.
Guess they know me too well.
So how did I make up for my additional guilt?
Extra tokens, of course.
Happy President's Day.