Rules of Engagement....:-)

So often my son, when being corrected, will say “You’re right, you’re right.” He genuinely means this as a signal of submission, but in the middle of a frustrating moment, it can be tempting to assume he’s being arrogant. More than once, “I know I’m right!” has slipped out of my mouth.

So he said it again today, and I gently tried to explain to him the confusing reactions he gets from people when he says this.

“Eli, I know you mean well, but when you say this, it sounds as if there were some doubt originally that the person was right. Just say ‘I’m sorry’ and be done with the discussion, okay?”

He looks at a magnet with a little saying that is posted on my refrigerator.

“But Mom,” he says, quoting the magnet that my sweet husband bought me recently, “I thought ‘All women like to hear the three little words ‘you were right?’"

I laugh, looking at the magnet and realizing how confusing the world is to him at time.

As if on cue, he says “This is the problem all of us men have. You give a woman what she wants, and then she asks for something different.”