Brilliant is

• Getting a babysitter for Saturday afternoon (when Emery is awake and requires work and attention!) rather than for Saturday night (when Emery is asleep, requires no work or attention and doing anything out probably costs more anyway.) And yes, I know a certain someone is going to take credit for this idea in the comments section.

• Leveraging (certainly not taking advantage of!) friends who have dogs for afternoon outings with Emery. Just sit her on a the floor with her canine friends and there's her free, A/C included entertainment for the day and my chance to catch up with another adult. (No pics of such engagements yet, but stay tuned.)

• The brilliance might just end here, because I simply cannot think of anything else worth noting. I thought it might have been brilliant to bring the Froggy Fun Pool into the house with no water in it to get Emery acclimated, but the fear still grips her whenever she's within a foot of her nemesis the frog. Smile Emery, there's a whole summer of sun, water and fun you might waste away!