No Backsies

When I was growing up, all us kids had a 'No Backsies' rule. No backsies was just that - if you gave or traded something, you couldn't get it back no matter what, and if you got something, you hung onto it until you were ready to part with it. No backsies was a very convenient rule to live by, mostly because it gave us a way to get rid of unwanted stuff, with no threat of it returning to us unasked for. No backsies was almost as convenient as the 'Do Over'. The Do Over was invoked when you messed something up and needed another shot at it to get it right. It was particularly useful in stick ball or jump rope or other street sports. The bad thing about the Do Over, though, is that it doesn't have as much of a place in the grown up world. For example...Yelling "Do Over" when pulled by the traffic police does not have any impact on the size of the speeding ticket you get. In fact, doing so might cause the officer to invoke the 'No Backsies' rule with the driver's license you handed over to them. Another time the Do Over rule is never useful is when parenting children. If you have foolishly said in the hearing of children how obnoxious Aunt Jane is, or that Sue really should not be wearing shorts with that skin issue she has...the children will never honor the Do Over. They will not let you live it down and will in fact, share your outspoken thoughts with anyone and everyone sufficient to cause maximum embarrassment and shame. Then of course, when you voice the ultimate Do Over threat to them - "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it", they smugly reply "No Backsies".