so in another thread that spun off another thread somebody brought up the ickiness of saying "because i said so."

i don't have such a strong, gut-level response to this.

i know explaining is good. and i think it would be wrong to "because i said so" in a situation where you are being unfair -- in a situation where there is gray area.

but then again, if i'm making dinner, holding one baby, trying to field an important phone call about papa's health and kid #1 climbs up on a step stool and starts playing with a burner, i think it might be reasonable to explain that fire is dangerous a few times but if it becomes the "why? why? why?" conversation, i think it might well be fair to say "because i said so," at least until i can make sure i resolve the medical matter of papa's health and have not burnt dinner and have not dropped the baby. (this is a hypothetical, based on some of the details of my life, on observing my cousin, a very skillful mama with three kids, etc.)

aren't there times where for the safety of the child or for the greater good of all it might be fair to say "because i said so" as synonymous with "i care about you a great deal. you are smart. you have your own agenda. i understand that. but sometimes, for now, you will have to rely on my judgement as coming from love and care for you and papa and all of us - and you're just going to have to trust me on this one. if you don't fall off that stool and crack your head open, you're going to set yourself on fire and then we will all be very sad. so my word on this has to be final and while we may choose to talk about this further later, we can not continue delving into this matter at present, sweetheart"?