I had my own room growing up, while Robbi shared hers with two siblings. This accounts for the fundamental difference in our natures, or so we conjecture. I’m less good at sharing and I like to sleep in a quiet, dark room, while Robbi could fall asleep during a strobe light dance party held on a subway platform.

Robbi likes to read before she goes to sleep at night. Yet, her reading lamp fills me with a soul-wrenching sadness. No one enjoys reading next to an irritated, sleepless complainer, so after months (or has it been years?) of seeking smaller and dimmer and less intrusive reading lamps, advanced technology intervened. By reading on an iPad with the screen turned all the way to its dimmest setting, Robbi can I read and I can sleep blissfully.

But just the other day, Robbi discovered that the iPad also allows her to draw in bed. At first, she used her finger, and drew this:

According to Robbi, it was fun, but a little frustrating. One would think that removing the pen would allow one to get closer to the art. And perhaps it does, but this seems to be a case in which a bit of mediation is most welcome.

So, after watching this series of helpful video reviews, decided to invest in a Bamboo stylus (by Wacom, the same company that makes her tablet), which arrived in yesterday’s mail.

Robbi was instantly taken with the Bamboo and was furiously scratching away as I fell asleep last night.

And so, this morning, I awoke to this image in my inbox (drawn at approximately 4:34 am, which was, coincidentally, exactly the same time that August woke up demanding his early breakfast).

So thank you, technology. Without the iPad and the Bamboo, these wonderful chickens would not exist. Or else they would exist, and I would be ill-rested and cranky this morning.

I’m not sure which is worse.