Just Gimme Some Soup! (I Ain't Givin' You No Soup.)

On the kids' TV show, iCarly, some young teens produce a popular web show. In one recent episode, Carly and her friend, Sam, perform a skit Sam wrote for class. It's about a prisoner who wanted some soup and the man who refused to give him any. The dialogue is simple:

"Just gimme some soup!" 

"I ain't givin' you no soup."

"Just gimme some soup!"

"I ain't givin' you no soup." 

Repeat several times.  That's the entire skit. 

This is funny to viewers, I guess, based partly on demographics. It's repetitive. It's contentious. It's dramatic. It's good kid humor. 

In real life, this kind of dialogue is not so funny. I know, because I recently engaged in a similar exchange with my son. Only ours went something like this: 

Me: "Just wear your coat." 

Son: "I ain't wearin' no coat." 

Me: "Just wear your coat."

Son: "I ain't wearin' no coat."

Son is finishing up with middle school, and is busy establishing his independence. That's what teenagers do. So I pick my battles and let him determine for himself whenever possible. Only sometimes that just isn't possible.

Case in point. Son was going to a football game. Gametime weather was set to be in the mid- 30s with gusty wind. Son wants to be cool in his football fan gear. He wants to be middle-school guy tough. Thus, our exchange. 

I told him if he wanted to go to the game, he had to wear the coat. No coat, no game. 

Turns out, it was pretty cold at the game. That coat wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Only the next time the situation arises, he definitely won't need a coat. 

I've always heard that, the older the child gets, the smarter the parent gets.  We have a ways to go just yet.