Yes Rules

As I was putting Claire to bed a few nights ago, she asked for some chocolate milk. I told her no, the only thing she could have in bed was water. She kind of whined about it and said "But I real real want some, and I can't get it myself", to which I repeated that the only thing I would get for her was water. Then she asked me why, and I told her the cavity story (again). She was quiet for a minute, and then asked again why she couldn't have chocolate milk in bed. So I said "Its the rule, its the same rule as every other night, no chocolate milk in bed". I thought that was that, but she sat up and said "Mama, I don't like No Rules. I want some Yes Rules." Clever! I almost started laughing, which at that moment would probably have made her pretty upset, so instead I said "Well the Yes Rule is that Yes! You can have water in bed! Do you want some?" And as she flopped herself back onto the pillows and squeezed her eyes shut she said quietly, 'yes', and as I walked into the kitchen to get the water, I said 'yes!' because its not always so easy to win a head-to-head battle of wits with a three-year old. They don't have any rules, much less follow any.