"You didn't know."

Another Nathan phrase that we find amusing is "You didn't know." I think he picked it up from school, but often uses it in a comic way (without realizing it).

A typical conversation:

me: "Nathan, can you wash your hands please?"

N: "I already did mom. See, they're wet!"

me: "Oh good, thanks honey."

N: "You didn't know I washed my hands already. You didn't know!"

The way Nathan says it often cracks James and I up, because the words themselves can be quite insulting, but he says it in such a sincere and innocent tone.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've taken advantage of N's new favorite phrase. The other day when I was cleaning up I put Nathan's souvenir cup in the recycling bin since we couldn't find the matching straw anymore. I was secretly hoping he wouldn't notice, but a few days later Nathan spotted it in the recycling bin and immediately yelled:

N: "Who put my cup in here?"

me: "Oh no, sorry Nathan. I didn't know you still wanted it. I didn't know!"

Nathan immediately softened up and calmed down after that, and I prevented a complete meltdown using 3 magic words.