Bargains, Preschool-Style

Preschoolers have bargaining skills that would put a Hutt to shame. Case in point:

Noah and I went out on the porch to watch the rain earlier today. Noah likes to run out and stand in the rain until he is soaking wet. Sometimes I allow him to do this--if we don't have to be somewhere or I don't mind giving him a bath right away. Today was not a "standing in the rain" day.

Noah: How about I just put my shoes in the rain? Okay, I could just put my arm a little in the rain. How about I put your bottle of water in the rain? I could dump your water out and fill it with rain water. You could drink the rain water. How about I just put the cap in the rain? Okay, I'm just going to put my head in the rain a little bit. Why, mama? I could take a bath in the rain. I would be nice and clean. What if we jumped in the rain? Just a little bit? Or maybe just our fingers? And so forth....