Tonight when I was getting Claire ready for bed, I was trying to hurry her along, as I tend to do.  Claire does not like being hurried, and she often gets grumpy about it.  “Dad!  Just quit hurrying me!”  But tonight she took a different tact.  When I gently tapped her on the shoulder and said something like, “Claire, are you ready to brush your teeth?”, she just smiled ask said:

    If you tap a birdhouse, it won’t go any faster.

After a few seconds, she added:

    But if you spill it off the bench, it will fly!

Kit and I cracked up at this turn of phrase.  The funny saying lightened up the mood a bit, but sadly, Claire did still have to brush her teeth.