Sometimes

I was not quite philosophically prepared to introduce the conditional into my toddler's world, but sometimes, even a 2-year-old has to learn that life is not always a straightforward matter.

So this is how such confusion seeped into our so far "straightforward" life (I think of it as...the beginning of wisdom for you, son). It all began with Luke's recent persistent way of expressing desire, "I want, I want, I want!" The pitch and intensity not only perpetually grind on my nerve, but also breach our family practice of "we don't whine." I understand that it can be extremely frustrating to live a life of a 2-year-old, where most of the time, desires are driven by innocent and insatiable curiosity (daddy's laptop buttons, those "pieces of paper" in mommy's wallet, what's underneath the dirt on the bottom of the flower pots...), but for his character and my hearing's sake, I need to put a halt to such whining that could quite possibly crumble the walls of Jericho(maybe that was what actually happened!). Therefore, I unassumingly introduced the conditional, "Luke, sometimes we just can't have what we want. You can move on and be happy, or whine and be angry about what you didn't get. It's your choice. But mommy thinks you will be happier moving on to something else..." Blah, blah, blah. In the end, only one idea stuck, and from that point on, all we heard from Luke is:

Sometimes, we are naughty.
Sometimes, we have to go home.
Sometimes, we can't throw food on the floor.
Sometimes, mommy has to go to work (ouch that hurts).
Sometimes, we just have to go to bed.
Sometimes, I just want that!
Sometimes, I am just angry!

I forgot to mention that such confusion is also the beginning of wisdom for me.