Hailey just asked me, "Mom, why did you forget to feed me lunch today?" I asked her, "What were those peanut butter sandwiches we just had?"
"Breakfast."
"Oh, what about the waffles this morning? What were those?"
"Oh, those were breakfast too. The sandwiches were second breakfast before lunch, but then you forgot lunch."
What do you say to that? I apologized for my gross oversight, and asked if there was anything Hailey wanted for lunch.
"No, not really. Just a little pile of pretzels right here," pointing to a spot on the couch. And then she comes up to me and gives me a big hug, and says "It's okay Mom, I forgive you for forgetting my lunch. We should forgive each other. Will you forgive me for making a mess with the packing peanuts? (Her forbidden activity she engaged in this morning.)
Again, what do you say to that? I want to remind her that we had a deal that if she played with the packing peanuts she HAD to clean up her mess, and that contrary to her views I am not generally neglecting her eating needs even if (first) breakfast was plain waffles popped out of the toaster without butter or syrup so I could go back to bed and get another fifteen minutes of sleep.
I just hug her back and say sure, and dish her up some apples and pretzels in a bowl.
Is that intentional manipulation on her part, or just weird four-year-old logic?
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Jenni, just to let you know, I've been stalking your photo blog for weeks now. I'm so jealous that I can't reap the benifits of your talent.--------p.s. that Hayley has a good head on her shoulders, is she already betrothed to anyone, or can we save her for Reid? We would love some of that cute/smart Gilbreth blood for our gene pool.
I'm constantly amazed at how much Spencer is learning in the art of manipulation. He'll sneak out of bed in the evening, come sit by me on the couch, and whenever I try and ask him why he's out of bed, he changes the subject: "What to talk about?" "See, bug over there. Ooooh a big one." (There is no bug, Spencer.) "Oh. It's all gone." It's kind of funny watching someone so spare of words trying to come up with irrelevant small talk. Though I'm sure Hailey puts him to shame.
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