Dec. 1st, 2005
Ana did something new today...
Dec. 1st, 2005 10:38 pmShe lied. To my face.
Not playing pretend like we often do. Not the sort of lie where she uses something like "I need to go potty" (when she just went) as a way to keep from getting a nap. No, this was something different. When I asked her (told her, but nicely) to help me clean her room, and "I can't!" wasn't working, she came up with "My arms hurt". Not hurt enough to keep her from picking up heavier items and playing with them, of course....
Yeah, the argument over *this* one went for a while. We did eventually end it with her picking up her toys and smiling. A twenty minute session of me oh-so-cheerfully prodding Ana to pick up a specific toy, and dodging bites and pinches and kicks and who knows what - and when it was done, the room ended up cleaned in about one minute, forty-three seconds. I'm not kidding.
Sometimes, I could just *scream*. I would've just left, since it was late in the day, but it's Jenn's birthday, and I'd burned (almost) all of her birthday cookies, so I felt bad leaving her with the screaming toddler.
It was a busy day for her, though - she painted, went to the playground, and had a friend over. So I understand that she was a bit stressed at the end of it, even considering she'd taken a full nap. However, that all aside, she still can't attack me (with teeth!) instead of helping me clean the room she made a mess of (well, she and Jonah, I suppose....)
Not playing pretend like we often do. Not the sort of lie where she uses something like "I need to go potty" (when she just went) as a way to keep from getting a nap. No, this was something different. When I asked her (told her, but nicely) to help me clean her room, and "I can't!" wasn't working, she came up with "My arms hurt". Not hurt enough to keep her from picking up heavier items and playing with them, of course....
Yeah, the argument over *this* one went for a while. We did eventually end it with her picking up her toys and smiling. A twenty minute session of me oh-so-cheerfully prodding Ana to pick up a specific toy, and dodging bites and pinches and kicks and who knows what - and when it was done, the room ended up cleaned in about one minute, forty-three seconds. I'm not kidding.
Sometimes, I could just *scream*. I would've just left, since it was late in the day, but it's Jenn's birthday, and I'd burned (almost) all of her birthday cookies, so I felt bad leaving her with the screaming toddler.
It was a busy day for her, though - she painted, went to the playground, and had a friend over. So I understand that she was a bit stressed at the end of it, even considering she'd taken a full nap. However, that all aside, she still can't attack me (with teeth!) instead of helping me clean the room she made a mess of (well, she and Jonah, I suppose....)