It's Mommy Time

One Mommy, Two Daughters, Zero Time

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Logic Problem

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:

  • At 1:24 PM , Anonymous peter said...

    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

     
  • At 5:51 PM , Anonymous katie said...

    That makes me laugh out loud. Silly mommy!

     
  • At 3:49 AM , Anonymous ann said...

    I can just see this conversation when she wants the car keys!

     

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