Mickey Mouse Respectfully Declines

The other day I was packing for the weekly visit to the swimming pool with my four-year-old. Without thinking, I made the mistake of asking which of his two swimsuits did he want to wear.

"WAIT!" he says.

He runs up me. Takes the two swimsuits.

"I have to do Eeny Meeny."

Of course. Eeny Meeny. How could I have forgotten that classic childhood ritual? However, I have discovered that, with a four-year-old, even the undisputed power of Eeny Meeny can be manipulated. You see, if it looks like he's not going to end up on the one he wants, he stops and starts again.

But I digress.

So, he begins. "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo / Catch a tiger by the toe / If he hollers let him go..."

And here's where it gets a little weird...

"Mickey Mouse says no."

Mickey Mouse says no? Where did THAT come from?

He explains to me that if Mickey Mouse says no, THAT's the one that doesn't get selected.

Ah, so Mickey has the power of VETO. He doesn't actually make the decision. I see now.

I briefly considered sharing with him the part that we used to do immediately after Eeny Meeny... or sometimes instead of it, back when I was a kid:

My mother and your mother were hanging out the clothes / My mother punched your mother right in the nose! / What colour was the blood? / Green! G - R - E - E - N spells green and you are not it in this game of hide and go seek. (ok, so you modify the very end part to suit your purposes)

As I said, I *considered* telling him. But I didn't. After all, some things stay the same from generation to generation, and some things don't.

Just ask Mickey Mouse.