The Middle of the Night

So last night, its just after 9pm and I'm sitting at the kitchen table with a 2-year-old, and we are both doing our best to stay awake. Around 7pm, I had tried the old "I'll read you as many books as you want, lets read them in bed!" trick. He ran out of interest on number six. Then there was some industrious building of train tracks while I tried to keep my eyes open on the couch. Then I decided we should have a cup of (sleep-inducing) tea. He just wanted a tea-bag in cold water and the remains of his quesadilla from dinner.
In his defense, he falls asleep every night between his Mom and Dad (a sweet deal for him and to his parents I say "more power to ya"), so I can see why he wasn't really in the mood for sleep while they were in San Francisco. We also had Mom's permission to keep him up as long as he wished. But over the cup of tea I could see he was having as much trouble keeping his eyes open as I was. "It feels like the middle of the night!" I said to him. Inspiration struck when he suggested we were in the dining car of a train (he's a big fan of the railroad!). I suggested we move to the sleeper car, and started telling incredibly slow stories about my childhood. About 15 minutes before his parents arrived home , he succumbed.
As sometimes happens when I get too tired, I could not fall asleep when I finally got in bed. It took a homeopathic remedy and making some to-do lists to finally lose consciousness.