You keep using that word

Conversation with the little guy on the way home today:

LITTLE E: I want to go home and eat pizza.
ME: I think Mom’s already got dinner planned.
LITTLE E: But I don’t like dinner. I don’t like it!
ME: Dinner isn’t pizza or green beans. Dinner is what time you eat at night. You like dinner just fine.
LITTLE E: I don’t like dinner.
ME: Do you like to eat food?
LITTLE E: Yes.
ME: Then trust me, you like dinner. At dinnertime, you get to eat food.
[pause]
LITTLE E: I don’t like to eat food.
ME: Great – that’ll save us a lot out of our budget. Thanks, buddy!

Me and Little E, solving the world’s problems together since 2007. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.