This Little Girl Insisting The Number 4 Doesn't Exist Is Toddlerhood In A Nutshell

You must watch this daddy-daughter stand-off over the number four

When you have kids it’s inevitable that there will be times when you, a grown-ass adult, will find yourself debating facts with a two-year-old. I can’t even count the number of times conversations have ended with something like, “I appreciate how passionate you are about the idea that circles are not round, but they are, and you are three-years-old and I am in my thirties and oh my God I don’t even know why I am having this conversation.” Unfortunately, I’ve never gotten any of these arguments on camera. Luckily, one mom recently did.

NTD Television posted this video from @JukinVideo of a dad arguing with his little girl about the existence of the number four. Enjoy.

This two-minute video of the dad saying “No, it’s one-two-three-four-five” and his daughter insisting, “No! It’s one-two-three-five” is going to cause a lot of flashbacks among parents who have also found themselves repeating an inarguable fact to someone who still can’t figure out how to work a zipper.

You have to love how insistent she is, though. as one commenter put it, “She’s so adorable and so convincing, I started to count my numbers again… just to make sure. 1,2,3,4(?),5??? Ummmm. Yes! Yes??” And we love her confidence. However, as most people who have strong-willed daughters will agree, while we love their strength, it’s unfortunate that that strength will also kill us before the end of their teenage years. The human brain can only take so much.

You have to sympathize with the dad, who apparently is some kind of teacher, when he says, “How you goin’ to tell me? I teach this every day.” That poor man reached the point where he was telling her about his work experience in order to convince her that he knows better. When someone that little is that convinced that you’re wrong, it’s hard not to want to pull up your resume sometimes and say, “Do you see this? I have a degree in economics. Do you know what we use in economics? Numbers. Numbers, fool!” Next thing you know you’re talking about your college internships and calling co-workers to get them to vouch for you and at that point you’ve already lost.

Towards the end of the video, the dad says in exasperation, “You’re skipping four! You can’t just leave four out!” before finally throwing up his hands in surrender. That’s when mom steps in and says, “Aaliyah. Count to four.” Aaliyah says, “One-two-three-four,” and happily accepts her defeat. Yup, she just moves right on to the next thing. Damn kids.

Props to her dad, by the way, who somehow stopped himself from screaming, “I told you so!” and high-fiving the mom, because I might have. Of course, I also have a husband who sings, “Dad is the champion, my friends…And Dad keeps on fighting till the end…” when he beats the kids at a game of Uno. So I should probably stay out of this.

This couple is a beautiful example of patience, good-humored parenting, and overall adulting. And we salute them for the best video we’ve seen in a long, long time.