Safety.

The age is: 4-9 years

The scenario is: family outing. It goes unexpectedly late. It’s a Saturday, and the drive home is roughly thirty minutes. Halfway through the journey, you become very sleepy.

The change in the car’s rate of speed is unmistakable as you near the house, but you feign not to notice. The car stops, but you don’t. You’re sleeping (or at least you were, and you hope to be again, and you know that bestirring yourself now seriously risks delaying the moment of sleep’s resumption). You keep your tired eyes shut.

A grace is bestowed! You feel dad gather you up. He has to know that you’re not really asleep, that you’re capable, that you’re getting heavier by the year and he’s not getting any younger.

But what follows instead, after an indeterminate period of shuffling and mild jostling, is your seamless deposit into your bed.