The giggles

As the parent of small children, I often find myself awed by the instructions & demands leaving my mouth. As members of my househould, these small beings should share my mores and values, however, certain behaviors leave me baffled. Today I witnessed Caleb overturn his cup, raining little droplets of milk upon the kitchen floor.
When I confronted him with the inappropriate action; dripping milk, I expressed the fact that this is unacceptable. In an effort to teach him responsibility for his actions, I asked him to please wipe up the milk. He happily obliged me by appropriating my bathingsuit for this purpose!
I called him over & locked eyes with the child, in my ordinary scolding method, and I attempted to explicity state that he, "May NOT use my bathing..." when suddenly I was convulsing & twitching...then smiling...then laughing,before I could even realize I was undermining my very own authority!
I stopped, took a breath, & tried again, "Caleb, you MAY NOT use..." Then I was smiling & twitching again. I took a deep breath and sent him to his room. I obviously needed his time-out to collect myself. And the poor child was obviously confused...
This isn't the first time I have been awed by the words my own mouth has uttered. But this has been the first time I have broken down with the giggles. Try looking deep into anyone's eyes and declaring "You MAY NOT use my bathing suit to wipe up your milk."