My 4-year-old son understands what I say, and if I say that he can have ice cream for dessert, you can bet that he will remember. If I try to go back on this, for example, by saying that since he ate ice cream at grandma’s house in the afternoon, then he can’t have ice cream for dessert tonight—he will not understand why this would change things. I said he could have ice cream for dessert. End of story. Keep your word, Daddy. It’s important, of course, to be flexible. But it’s also important to keep your word.