My least favorite phrase has become “I don’t know” or it’s derivative “I don’t remember”.  It is uttered for a myriad of different topics in this household, but it is generally the answer to questions such as '”What did you do in school today?”, or “Who broke Super Mega Mommy’s favorite porcelain doll?”, or even “Why did you pee on the carpet instead of the big girl potty?”

For kids that have incredible memories for things such as knowing every single characters name in Lego Star Wars, or that I promised a special toy two months ago if certain criteria was met (usually improbable circumstances like pigs flying, or the planet Mars exploding or something which invariably ends up happening just to SPITE me), or can recite every SINGLE Disney song from memory, they sure do forget a LOT of the more mundane things in their day to day activities.

Upon picking up Super Michael from school (or Princess K for that matter), I generally ask them as a conversation starter, what they did in school that day.  I should know the standard answer by now, but I guess I am just an optimist or a glutton for punishment.  The answer I usually get is my least favorite phrase, the standard “I don’t know” canned response.

However, if I switch the question to “What did you play during recess?”, I get a detailed play by play, minute by minute run down of what games were played, who played them, who tagged whom, who got in trouble, and a detailed synopsis of the coolest move of the day.  I figure, great, NOW we are getting somewhere, so I try asking about class related stuff in tinier bite size chunks instead of generalities: “What books did you read today?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did you do on the spelling test today?  Did your teacher do the test today?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did you practice your Little Red Hen play today in class?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did lunch go…what did they have?”

Oh boy, now we get the detailed answers again.  Turns out they had chicken nuggets, they were really good.  The cookie was the best cookie EVER.  Little Johnny wasn’t listening again, so he got in trouble.  You get the idea here.

So, this gets me thinking.  He is willing to answer questions regarding fun stuff that happens during the day (recess, lunch, play time) but when it comes to the “boring” work stuff, he’s just not really into talking about it at all.  I’m just very curious about why this is.  Is this a general “people” thing?  Does everybody do this?

This gets me thinking back to MY childhood and what a complete and utter dork I was with MY parents.  I honestly don’t think I ever answered a single question my parents posed with ANYTHING BUT “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember”.  I can admit, now that I’m an old fart, that I was a very difficult kid growing up.  I was quite, and I was difficult to get along with.

Now that I’ve had all day to ponder on this one, I completely believe that this is just all pay back for me being such a jerk as a kid.  My kids are completely open books compared to how I was way back when.  Although I probably wasn’t such a solemn teenager when I was 6 now that I think about it. 

So, after my cranky day thinking about “I don’t know’s”, I get home from work tonight to a stayed-at-home Super Mega Mommy (we both have colds, but her coworkers think she has Swine Flu so she had to stay home) and Super Mega Mommy asks me how my day at work went.  I just look at her and say, “I don’t know”.  I think I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.

Now I’m curious what everybody else’s least favorite phrase is.  Maybe it’s something you don’t like your kids saying, or something that just chaps your hide.  Let me know in the comments below. 

Have fun!