For anyone with young kids:

Tonight was one of those nights when Keresa had a book she wanted to read, and I had a new piece of software I wanted to figure out, and we both just wanted to work on our stuff and have the kids watch Nemo and sit still. Well, when you WANT the kids to do that, they have more wiggles than at any other time of the day. So we tried something that seemed to work: Rug Wars!

We made the kids clean all the toys, shoes, pillows, etc., out of the family room so there was a big space in the middle of the floor. Then I told them we would play a game called Rug Wars. I was sitting in the rocker at one corner of the big rectangle rug, and Keresa was sitting at the other corner on the couch. I had my computer and Keresa had her book. I told the kids the rules were they had to run around the rug making sure to stay on the outer edge of the rug, and if they could run fast enough, they wouldn't suffer a spank from Mom or Dad. So they went to running! Every other lap or so I would reach down and offer a spank. Keresa did the same. The kids had TONS of fun, and all we had to do was swing a hand every 20 seconds. It was like parenting on auto pilot :) After every 20 laps or so, they would stop in at the rocker and "take a rest" while I would show them how to relax and take deep breaths, and I would blow cool air into their scalps. Kind of nasty or weird, but they liked it. Then they would get charged up again and play more Rug Wars.

After a solid half hour of running, they were both so tired we threw them in the bath, then in their beds, and we haven't heard a peep. Maybe we'll play Rug Wars more often.