Because I Said So

When I was growing up I swore I would never give my kids the answer of, "because I said so." It seemed like a lazy way out; kind of a cop out. But now that I have kids I realize that rather than being a cop out or even a power trip, it is really economically based. When my four year old wants to take a full bag of pretzels rather than just taking one at a time, leaving the bag on the counter, I tell her 'no'. When she asks why, I find myself wanting to say, "Honey, if I let you take a full bag of pretzels, you and your sister will inevitably tug of war with it, bursting the bag and causing air born pretzels to land scattered and shattered all over mommy's freshly mopped floor which will cause mommy's head to pop off like a cork on a highly pressured bottle, sending her quickly deflating, headless torso flying recklessly around the room like a cheap balloon until it lands somewhere flat as a piece of unwanted junk mail.  Then who will cook you your dinner?" Somehow, in the economy of words and time it just seems more logical to say, "because I said so".



Copyright 2008 Shai Adair