The word I am most dreading being used in every day conversation with our two eldest children is “but…”. It’s a simple enough word but leads on to a world of disagreement that seems interminable. “But…” can happen at any time as well, you need to be on your guard for it.
The most recent “but…” involved bath time and not in the way you would necessarily have believed it would pan out.
Me: time for your bath boy.
Boy: but I wanted to pretend my t-shirt was a parachute!
Well I certainly didn’t see that one coming but the worst part of it is that Fifi has picked up on it and her “buts…” make no sense whatsoever. The other day we were watching Dolphin Tale,which was surprisingly good for a film about a dolphin. We had the triple play Blu Ray thingy, so there were two discs in the box, the Blu Ray and a DVD. Once we’d finished watching the film I was butted.
Fifi: But I want to watch other film
Me: that’s the same film, only on DVD.
Fifi: Want to.
Me: Why would you want to watch an inferior image quality version of the film you’ve just watched?
Fifi: BUT I WANT TO.
And there was nothing for it really but to put the DVD on. It was rather bonkers really and she really needs to get to grips with the whole “but..” thing.
A normal “but…” is often a reaction to a polite request or a statement from me or wifey. Asking something like, “please get into your pyjamas.” could have a number of replies ranging from “but we haven’t even played yet!” (a common week day complaint), to “but I’m not having a bath!”, right through to “but I’m never going to do a thing that you say ever again!”
The actual content of a “but…” isn’t that important really, it’s simply the reluctance to acquiesce at any given time.