A few un-ladylike remarks ensued, and at least one raised fork. Nobody mentioned any future meetings. Year after year, there are certain things that just don't alter much. Eons speed by, but even the relatively new field of psychiatry has not been able to bring about a change in the incongruous use parents make of certain sentences. A mother is dragging her child from the middle of a busy street where 25 cars have just come to a screeching halt, causing two near heart attacks and as much foul language as you're ever likely to encounter.
Mom informs the culprit.
It is interesting, however, to imagine a possible answer. I have a hunch that this time next year parents will still be asking their children unanswerable questions. The older kids get it too. Any response will earn detention measured in years. This is obviously a problem of higher mathematics, so high, in fact, that it is unreachable by the brain of any human being that has ever lived.