It is a line that little Jude heard from her Mom frequently. Apparently it was Mom’s default reply whenever one of her six kids was complaining about whatever.

Indeed, it was not a perfect world. Surely an annoyed little kid could devise some rebuttal or another to that reasoning, but really. What was a sound reply ?

Little kid. Big kid. It didn’t matter. Any youngster already had it figured out. That was the whole reason for complaining. No, it wasn’t a perfect world!

Judy’s Mom spliced a few other interjections to the fray.

“Get over it.”

“Life isn’t fair. Never was.”

Whichever the expression, one gets the idea that Mom was a no nonsense lady. She had to be. She had six complaining kids. The need to manage expectations was very real.

That was then. This is now. Yes, a few things have changed. For starters, not a lot of parents are having six kids anymore.

Some factors remain quite the same. First, kids still complain. There’s still a need to manage kids’ expectations.

And, of course, it’s still not a perfect world.