When, in other words

Yesterday morning I found a sweet lying around in Mummy and Daddy’s bedroom. I concluded it must have escaped from Daddy’s stash, looking for somebody nicer to be eaten by.

“Mummy, can I have this sweet?” I asked, yet without much hope; I could predict the answer.

“Not now – you haven’t had breakfast yet”, replies Mummy, right on cue.

“Then when can I have the sweet, Mummy”, I persist.

“Later, maybe”, she says.

“When later?”

“When I say so”

“But when, Mummy?”

“If you say ‘When, Mummy’ one more time, you won’t be having it all!”. Mummy thinks she’s had the last word.

So I let the matter rest. For, say, thirty seconds.

“At what moment may I have the sweet, Mummy?”