Reasoning with my 5-year old

I realised that it is not an easy battle after a few tries. Reasoning with my 5-year old requires me to take each step with caution and also to really structure my sentences properly.

Let me give you an example.

We were having dinner the other night. And Jiaheng doesn't seem to have much appetite that night and taking his food very slowly. I decided to give him a time limit to complete his meal. As with any people, we have to put in the RISK and REWARD to get them going.

If he cannot complete his meal in the next 15 minutes. his RISK will be:
- not to be able to ride on his bicycle for the rest of the night.

His REWARD will be:
- to be able to join Yixuan and me in a ball game after dinner.

I said this "Jiaheng, if you cannot finish your meal in the next 15 minutes, you cannot ask to ride your bicycle for the rest of tonight." Thinking that I should pre-empt the situation for tomorrow, I 'smart-aleckly' added "If tomorrow, the same thing happens, you cannot ride your bicycle and your scooter bike for tomorrow night"

Thinking that I have covered all grounds, Papa feels happy about himself.

Then Jiaheng asked "Papa, if I cannot ride the bicycle and scooter bike tomorrow. Does it mean I can ride my scooter bike later if I cannot finish my food in 15 mins?"

Aiyoh! How har? Should I say yes or no? Based on Jiaheng's reasoning, the answer should be "yes". But if I say yes, then there is no RISK already.

Finally, I said "Yes, Jiaheng" and abruptly completed the episode by saying "Eat your food quickly". *gua gua gua...* :< (hitting my own foot with my hammer!)

Hmmm... kids nowadays har!! Need to be extra careful with words and reasoning the next round.