MommySpeak

Excerpts from a conversations in our house last week.

Harry:  I'm going to ask mom if she can move the cars in the driveway so we can ride our bikes.
Skip:  She probably wont, she said she had to make the spaghetti sauce for dinner before she did anything else today or we'd end up eating at midnight.
Harry: I'm going to ask her anyway.
Skip:  Go ahead, you'll see for yourself.

Harry: Mom, can you move the cars so Skip and me can ride our bikes in the driveway?
Me: Skip and he
Harry: Moooooom, not you, Me and Skip.
Me: I said "Skip & I" because that's the correct way to say it, not "Skip & me".
Harry. Oh. Okay. But can you move them?
Me: Yep, in a minute, just as soon as she sauce boils I'll turn it down low and go move them.
Harry: Thanks!

Skip:  Well?
Harry: She said yes!
Skip: She did?
Harry: Yep, she said in a minute. Let's go get our bikes and helmets out of the shed.
Skip: Harry, we can finish this game first, Mom isn't going to move them for at least 5 or 10 minutes.
Harry: No, she said in a minute.
Skip: Harry, haven't your learned that when Mom says in a minute, she doesn't mean in one minute.
Harry: What does she mean then?
Skip (just slightly frustrated) In a minute means 5 or 10 minutes.
Harry: (pondering briefly) Oh, okay. Whose turn is it?

So, the question is, when you say in a minute - does it mean just that?