One thing I knew before I became a parent was that parents and kids interpret "maybe later" differently. What I didn't realize is how inescapable it is when you're suddenly the parent. Even knowing that my son is going to take "maybe later" to mean "yes" when I really mean "either this is going to postpone the tantrum, or you're going to forget about it, and either way that's a win for me," I just can't stop. Because it really is a win either way.

On the other hand, before I became a parent I was just FULL of quiet disapproving clucks for parents that wouldn't just take a moment to indulge their child in whatever harebrained scheme the child was concocting at the moment, when really all it would take is just a little time. Now I'm relieved that I never actually clucked out loud, because I've finally realized that kids always have a harebrained scheme that will just take a little time to indulge, and if a parent even makes it out the goddamned door, it's because they callously cut one of those schemes short.