"Will you stop barking so I can hear your brother?"

We have a dog. A lovely old Golden Retriever who is gentle and sweet and patient and, most of all, quiet. So...I wasn't talking to him when I said this. I wasn't even talking to my youngest child. Nope, my 8.75 year old decided the other day that barking at random times was the way he was going to communicate. At first I must have tuned it out (as any parent has the amazing ability to do) so when my youngest started asking me a question I didn't realize why I couldn't understand him. But then it hit me, the barking, coming from my son standing in the kitchen holding an apple. I even attempted to ignore it by crouching down and asking the little man to repeat himself, but then it hit me - this is ridiculous. So I held up my finger in the just-a-second motion, sighed a deep sigh, turned my head in the direction of the barking and said what I said. My oldest immediately stopped in mid bark and resumed eating his apple as if nothing at all strange had just occurred.