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My family is back from Thailand . . .

At 6:30 this morning, I’m awakened by the dog pawing on my bedroom door. I get up to see what’s going on and find my son — who is never up at 6:30 in the morning but is still operating on Thailand time — playing a video game in the family room.

“Rise and shine, parental!” he says. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?”

“I was up till 1 a.m. getting you home from the airport so I was planning to sleep until 7.”

Meanwhile, the dog is trying to get someone’s attention by jumping around next to his food bowl.

“Why is he jumping around like that?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” the boy says.

“Has he eaten?”

“No.”

“Mystery solved, Encyclopedia Brown. I’m going back to bed.”

A few minutes later, the boy inexplicably shows up in my room.

“Mom,” he says, “when the clothes are done in the washer, do you just put them in the dryer?”

“Did I mention I wanted to sleep till 7?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says. “Don’t set it on High though. Set it on Normal.”

A minute later, he’s back.

“There is no Normal,” he says.

“You’re telling me,” I say.