Parental Fail?

A couple of weeks ago a dad made plans with Archer to go see a movie. He picked a late show so the kids would be well in bed by then. But he picked a Thursday evening. Which is when everyone (except him) usually has something or the other going on. The boy finished his soccer practice at Lone Star. Then the girl went to Ballet Afrique. Then the mother took off for her volley ball game. The father got the kids fed, showered  and in bed by around 8:00pm. At 8:15, the mother called and said she was going to stop for a drink with her friends after volleyball. The father reminded her about his movie. "Oh - so could you drop the kids off at the Tavern on your way?"

He - "Umm - they are in bed. But let me check." So he walked up the stairs and saw the girl using her makeshift secret hidden flashlight dangling from the rafters with the blanket hanging in front to stop any light from catching our casual attention. She was reading. The boy was chatting away with her, not really concerned that she wasn't responding except for occasional "Stop talking to me! I'm reading."

"Would you like to get dressed and go meet mommy at a pub - er - restaurant?"
Together: "Now?!!"
"Yes"
"Sure!"

On the way there, the girl asked what they would do if "mommy can't drive back home". The boy confidently replied "we'll Uber back".

The father claims to take his parenting job semi seriously, leaving the mother to do most of the heavy lifting. But he does occasionally pay lip service (at least) to the independence part - some variant of "My job is to teach you how to live when I'm not there." 

ps. before you call CPS, the parents say they rarely sit around and drink all day. Their kids are just surprisingly knowledgeable in this regard. 

pps. that may be the parents in front of the Ai Weiwei sculpture in Austin last week. They had stopped near by for a drink.