The Power of the Panopticon

or A Little Surveillance Can Be a Good Thing

My dad is in town for the week, staying with us. He is an excellent guest: he does his own thing all day, he accomodates himself to our life, he doesn't talk too much or take up too much space, he buys lots of wine, he's happy to watch Olympics all evening, the girls adore him (most of the time, but that's another post I won't be writing).

Still, his presence makes me pull up my bootstraps. I clean more, I cook real food, I try that much harder to be patient with the girls.

And lo and behold, the house is clean, dinner is tasty, we all get along, nobody yells. It is a veritable domestic idyll. Simply because someone else is watching.