A Scene from the Bedroom

It is 4 am.  I am roused from my slumber by a naked three-year-old, who is standing over me in bed.

ATHENA: Mom, can you help me put my underwear back on?

After a little wrangling, this task is accomplished.  The three-year-old nestles herself between me and her father.  Now awake, I get up to go to the bathroom and then insinuate myself back into the family bed (between the three-year-old and the blissfully sleeping infant).  The relevant question occurs to me.

ME: Athena, why were your undies off?
ATHENA: Because I couldn't get them back on.
ME: Okay, but why did you have them off?
ATHENA: Because... I was trying to put them back on, but it was... (she pauses and then enunciates) difficult.

Caleb is also awake by now, and we are both trying (not too successfully) to stifle our laughter.  I try to think of another way to phrase my question, but my mind is still sleepy.

ME: I see.  But I'm trying to understand why you took your undies off in the first place.
ATHENA: Because... I wanted you to put them back on.

Parents are both laughing out loud now.  I ask the child if she's ever considered putting crab apples in her cheeks.  "What?" she asks.  "It's a literary reference," I tell her. "What?" she asks again.  "I love you," I tell her.

Upon a bit of follow-up questioning, she reveals that while she DID go potty before her bath at bedtime, her bed is somehow wet, and that this is why she needed to change her underwear.  Mystery solved, we all go back to sleep.