Toddler manipulation

When Clara wakes up every morning, I wait about fifteen minutes before extracting her from the crib. Although she often sounds wide awake and quite ready to begin her day, she will often fall back asleep if ignored. Sort of an fatherly version of the snooze alarm.

Last month she began purposefully lying for the first time when she started shouting, “Clara poopy diaper!”

Knowing that this awareness is the first sign that a child might be ready to potty train, I ran up the stairs upon hearing these words through the baby monitor, only to find a clean diaper and a child who desperately wanted to be removed from her crib.

She lied to me, knowing the claim of poop would send me running.

Since that day, her declarations of poop are now ignored (a girl who cried wolf situation if ever there was one), so she has become more creative.

Yesterday morning she awoke and shouted, “I want some more Mommy Daddy please!”

She seems to have learned that tugging on the heart strings is always effective.

Practicality can  also be effective, as it was this morning when she cried out, “Mommy! Daddy! I need some Boogie-Wipes!”

She’s been feverish and snot-filled for two days now, and she was indeed in need of a Boogie Wipe.

I expect that this is just the beginning of a long line of attempted manipulation.