Kupi slona or how to annoy your toddlers

Parents of toddlers know how annoying the constant whining is. Anything said in a tiny voice over and over and over and over starts to wear on anybody, and I don't care what kind of happy meds you are on. Maya whines and meows constantly. Her newest thing is to say "what did you say?" to anything I ask her to do.

So in despair I opened the dark damp room in my head that are my childhood memories. You see, my brother is 8 years younger than me and we had some interesting times together. When we were growing up, we used to play this game: you start out with asking someone to buy an elephant, "kupi slona" in mother-tongue. When your victim innocently asks you "why?" (zachem?), you say "everyone asks why, but you buy an elephant" or  "все говорят зачем, а ты купи слона?". The beauty of this is that you can countersay just about ANYTHING with "kupi slona". It's awesome and endless. My brother and I did it for hours until someone got tired or voices got coarse.

So, when Maya started with "what did you say?" I was ready. I replied "kupi slona". She got confused and said "what?". Then I had my revenge. And it was glorious. Now nothing stops whining and complaining faster than "kupi slona". I love it.