His Dogness

Sparkle Girl has always been happy to get a good-night kiss from me.

She likes them both plain and fancy. For a fancy one, I will kiss my hand and then blow the kiss so that it bounces off different objects in the room before landing on her cheek.

For a plain one, I kiss my hand and blow it directly onto her cheek or kiss my hand and deliver the kiss by putting my hand on her forehead.

Mr. Doobins is happy to get good-night kisses from his mother but is not interested in getting one from me. So, somewhere along the way, I got into the habit of giving him a good-night salute.

I put my right hand to my forehead and then tip it toward him as if I were tipping my hat to him.

Sparkle Girl has never commented on the salute until the other night. When she saw me do it, she said, “What is that anyway?”

Mr. Doobins said, “He’s just giving me some of his brains.”