Otherwise?

Instead of asking "what?" and "why?," Oliver asks "means?" and "otherwise?"

Avalanche means?
Communion means?
You need to wear your gloves, it is very cold outside....otherwise?
We cannot go to the market, it is closed....otherwise?

The "otherwise" questions can sometimes stump even the best adult around here.  Tonight, I got an otherwise that I thought was a softball, that was my mistake.

I got home from work and Joe already had Oliver in bed.  Much to my poor husband's frustration, as often happens, Oliver had a little burst of energy when I came in and Joe's efforts at the bedtime schedule were set back.  Oliver has established an arsenal of tactics for trying to keep me from going to work and for trying to avoid going to sleep.  After finishing his happy dance upon my arrival, he settled back in and tried the, "I'm hungry."  I told him he already had supper, but could get breakfast in the morning.  To which he replied, "I am hungry now and want some food in my big boy bed."  I said no, you don't eat food in your big boy bed.  His response, "Otherwise?"  I thought this was an easy thing to explain and I replied, "Otherwise, you would get crumbs in your bed, and we don't want any crumbs in your clean bed that you sleep in."  Oliver's response to this, "But, I want a bowl of strawberries and strawberries do not have crumbs like biscotti."

Despite my better judgment, Oliver got his bowl of strawberries.  Not because I thought he was super hungry or because I did not think he would understand further explanation.  Simply because, I thought he made a really good point.