It was a nice day today weather-wise, so it wasn’t surprising when the lass arrived home, around noon, that she asked to go in the pool. The water is still cold, my guess is it’s in the low 60’s. But that doesn’t stop them from wanting to get in it. Seeing as today was the first day since the past weekend where swimming was plausible, there was no real reason to tell her “No.”
But she had to have lunch first. She wanted a sandwich and chips. So I put that together for her. While I was doing so, she sprinted upstairs to put on her swim suit in anticipation of getting in the pool.
NOT so fast, she was told.
She had to wait 20 minutes for her food to settle.
This little parental stall tactic has to have been around since the cavemen: “Mmmm, Grog say no go in water until Sun passes tree to allow for good digestion.” This also provided the appropriate conditions for the cave-kid nagging: their kids pestered them into oblivion with “Has the Sun passed the tree yet?” or “The Sun has passed the tree from over here Dad!” Followed by the caveman losing his squash “Now wait until it passes NEXT tree!”
Thankfully (for all of us), it ended there.
Personally, it was an hour for me when I was growing up. For the Wife, it was 30 minutes.
It’s 20 for the kids. Why?
Why not. When dealing in the ridiculous, there are no rules.