New insight

I had been thinking that the reason Wild Thing is a grouch in the morning and a complete charmer in the evening (as a rule) was because he's more night owl than morning glory, much like his parents. But I've been thinking. If he's sweet and joyful in the morning, what happens? He gets stuffed in a car seat and hauled off to the child care center. If he's sweet and charming after dinner, what happens? Mom and dad want to hang out and play until it's really obvious that we're being bad parents by letting him stay up so late. Being a grump in the evening would get him put to bed quickly, but grumpiness in the morning means everything goes more slowly, which yields more time in the house.

Pretty sharp, that night owl of ours.