Two contrasting sleeping faces reflected in the rearview mirror.

Inside the car on the way home from playing at a large park a little ways away.

I put my one-year-old second daughter in her child seat.

The very moment I clicked the belt into place.

Her head dropped with a jerk.

A zero-second sleep that would even surprise Nobita-kun.

As if the fact that she was screaming "I don't want to go home" until just a moment ago was a lie, she fell fast asleep with her mouth open.

She departed for the world of dreams in an instant.

Compared to her, my four-year-old eldest daughter.

A strong will to "absolutely not sleep."

Even though her eyes are completely glazed over,

she makes a mysterious declaration: "I'm not going to sleep until tonight!"

From there, the "battle that absolutely cannot be lost" between my eldest daughter and sleepiness began.

• Looking out the window while rolling her eyes back

• Suddenly shouting "Ah!" to wake herself up

• Reporting "Daddy, I'm not sleeping" even though I didn't ask

• Starting to sing her favorite song, but immediately mumbling

When I say, "It's okay to sleep, you know?"

she gets angry, saying, "I won't! If I sleep, the outing will be over!"

I see, it's the pride of a four-year-old, and the tenacity of "not having played enough yet."

In the end, with only 10 minutes left until we reached home,
my eldest daughter slumped over, completely exhausted and burnt to a crisp (a bit of an old-fashioned metaphor).

That sleeping face, as if to say, "I'm completely defeated..."
was truly adorable.

The sadness that our outing was coming to an end, and the satisfaction of having enjoyed it to the fullest.

My eldest daughter's small resistance,
I believe, was proof of just how much she enjoyed today.

Please take a look at this as well if you'd like!