Natalie. I'd say she's more of a TV actress than movies. And maybe daytime TV at that.
Warning: Potty story to follow.
So Natalie's on the potty yesterday morning.
N: "Ok, Mom, I'm done."
M: "That's great, honey, go ahead and wipe."
N: "I want a wet wipe."
M: "You don't really need one, you can just use toilet paper."
N: "Then I'm not wiping."
M: "If you want a wet one that badly, fine."
N: "I want you to wipe."
M: "Natalie, you're 3, you can handle it."
N: "I want YOU to wipe."
M: "No, you can wipe, now hurry up."
N: "Then I don't want to wear underwear, I want a diaper."
(silence while I weigh my options with a freshly potty training child)
M: "Ok, fine, Mommy will wipe."
Shoot!
That was either a draw (she stayed in the underwear, afterall), or Natalie won. I'm still not sure. It wasn't really whining, it sounded more like a threat. Took me off guard. I really took Ella's firstborn-ness for granted. She just said "okay" to anything. I mean, maybe she tried to negotiate within reason, but she'll cave. Ella's negotiating is pretty sophisticated in that she's got an answer for anything. She's prepared with her argument, but in the end she will accept and move on. Natalie's negotiations take on a certain hostage situation feel. I'm sure Natalie's just testing me on follow through, but I sort of hoped she'd be more like Ella on that one. Maybe she'd take my word for it. Don't question the establishment and all that.
Must learn to harness this trait for good and not evil.
Now accepting copies of "The New Strong-Willed Child". Email me for mailing address.
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7 years ago
4 comments:
You can get this book on bookins.com or have your sister do it for you.
Ohhhhh how similar our children are; Evrett will certainly push his luck, but Ben is out and out defiant when he's made up his mind. If you figure out that whole harnessing for good an not evil thing, please let me know how you did it. The boy is 18 months old and I'm already out of parenting tricks.
That's too funny. I read that book and it described me more than my son... :( I think I terrorized my parents. Anyway, thanks for stopping by my blog.
I nearly peed my pants...and I don't have anything to wipe with.
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