My 2-year-old is clever. More so than I’m comfortable with at times. Particularly when it comes to getting something she wants.

“Can I watch cartoons?”
“No, not right now.”
“Can I ask Daddo?”
“No, Button. If Mama says no, you can’t go ask Daddo in hopes that he’ll give you a different answer.”
“I want a different answer.”

Yesterday, we made a deal that if she ate all of her fish for dinner, she could watch some cartoons. She didn’t eat all of her fish. She didn’t get to watch cartoons. Then she decided to throw a fit, and got sent to Time Out.

We have a policy that in order to come out of Time Out, she has to tell us what she did wrong that got her put in Time Out. Sometimes pride gets in the way and she doesn’t want to admit her fault in the matter.

“Are you ready to come out?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me why you got in trouble?”
(silence)
“What did you do that got you in trouble?”
“Mama.”
“No, Mama didn’t get you in trouble.”
“I got in trouble all by myself.”
“Yes. Can you tell me why you got in trouble?”
(silence)
“Button, I would like to take you out of Time Out, but I’m waiting for you tell me why you got in trouble.”
“Can I watch TV if I talk about why I got in trouble?”

Obviously, she has a one-track mind.

And a mind in which the wheels are constantly turning. Eventually, she admitted that she got in trouble for throwing a fit. She then apologized and told me she would never do it again.

Yeah, right.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Kid Quotes, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.