Please? Please? PLEASE!?!

As a child, my mom would always remind me to use the "magic word".

The magic word was, of course, "please".

I'm not sure how she came up with that. Perhaps my grandma said the same thing.

We haven't continued that tradition, but that doesn't keep my two-year-old, Chris, from thinking that "please" is a word with superpowers.

Yes indeed, he thinks that any requests made, using "please," will cause Mommy and Daddy to have a complete lapse in judgment and let him continue on his merry way.

Now, I admit, he looks and sounds extremely cute when he uses his manners. However, we have limits. I am not going to let him repeatedly bang on the kitchen table with a can of mandarin oranges no matter how sweetly he asks.

He also isn't going to get to jump off of the furniture, pick up his baby sister, eat candy for breakfast, and, well, you get the point.

Of course, he isn't deterred by how many times I say "no." So, I suppose it is only a matter of time before I do have that complete lapse in judgment.

Such is the sweet life with a two-year-old.