Let me set up the scene.  After a trip to the coffee shop where mother and son play cards and stick stickers for an hour and a half followed by an additional hour of play downstairs with the son, a harried mother with a lot of work to do finally excuses herself to clean the kitchen and fold laundry.  She explains to the son that it is time for him to play on his own and offers a choice of five perfectly reasonable activities that son typically enjoys for the allotted half hour time the mother requires.  Mother exits basement and frantically begins her chores.  Five minutes later, son enters room where mother is busily folding laundry. 

Son:  Mom, I don’t like the word ‘no’.

Mom: You know, sometimes I get tired of using it too.

Son: Mom, can I watch cartoons?

Mom:  Umm, I would rather you not do that.

Son: Mom, I don’t like ‘not’ either.   How about a deal? How about I watch cartoons and you can knit?

Mom: I think you’ve watched enough TV, how about you play with your new toys? Or you can colour, or here’s the duster and you can help me clean.

Son:  I don’t like the word ‘enough’.  I want to watch cartoons.

Mom:  (reluctantly because she’s already said she needs to do housework and needs some time before joint play resumes)  Well, why don’t we go down and play basketball for a few minutes and then you need to play alone.  I’ll set the timer for five more minutes.  (Though this is not what she wants to have happen - the choice of either cartoons or postponing chores for an additional five minutes, which is the lesser of two evils?)

Son: (quickly, as though this was the plan all along) Okay, let’s go!

Mom: (sighs to self as she realizes she’s been duped, again, by a person who’s only this month mastered the fine art of the potty…)

END SCENE