Not to brag, but I’m really good at logic. I know this because on several standard logic tests – GRE Logic Section and my logic class final exam in college – I did quite well. So, I think that I can say that according to adult standards, I’m a logical person (or at least good at stupid logic problems).
Thus, you could imagine my surprise when I came to find out that by two-year-old standards, I’m completely illogical. Here’s how I came to understand how truly illogical I am in Hailey’s eyes:
Hailey wants a princess vitamin every time she sees the bottle sitting on the counter. The fact that I don’t just hide them should have been clue number one that I’m illogical. Still, we have gone through this same conversation at least 5 times a day…
Hailey: “Mommy, I want my vitamin”
Mommy: “No Hailey. You only can have 1 vitamin a day.”
Hailey: “Mommy, I want my vitamin”
Mommy: “You already had your vitamin today. You can have another one tomorrow.”
After having this conversation for 2 weeks, I finally devised a strategy. I would let her use her budding logic skills to figure out that she can’t have a vitamin. Here’s how I revised the conversation this week:
Hailey: “Mommy, I want my vitamin”
Mommy: “Hailey, how many vitamins are you allowed to have every day?”
Hailey: “Five”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “Two”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “One”
Mommy: “Yes. And how many vitamins have you had today?”
Hailey: “Six”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “Three”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “One”
Mommy: “Yes. So, how many more vitamins are you allowed to have?”
Hailey: “Three”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “Four”
Mommy: “No”
Hailey: “One”
Mommy: “No. You can have zero vitamins now because you’ve already had your one vitamin for the day.”
Here’s where it falls apart for me.
Hailey: “I want my zero vitamin, Mommy”
3 comments:
Hilarious! How do you ever keep a straight face? (And I know that in this case you just laughed right out loud).
Love,
Dad/Grandpa Pete
That makes me laugh out loud. Silly mommy!
I can just see this conversation when she wants the car keys!
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