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Toddler Trickery

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This post was originally posted on a blog (9/8/2011) that may be going away soon, so I wanted to make sure it had a place to stay :).

Jayden has a huge fascination with Band-Aids (or their generic sisters: bandages). They are like a fashion accessory to him. He must have one. The slightest “owie” is rounds for dipping in the Band-Aid stash. If he has a hang nail, he needs a Band-Aid. If he stubs his toe, he needs a Band-Aid. Tiny scratch, he needs a Band-Aid. And long after the owies are healed, he is still sporting a Band-Aid. I often joke about him being the next toddler Nelly. Although Jayden’s Band-Aids are less symbolic and more so for cool factor.

Quite a few months back, I decided to use his love of Band-Aids to my advantage; a little impromptu trickery. Before our strict Eczema regime, he would nick his legs from scratching. When this would happen, you guessed it, he would request a Band-Aid. But there was a problem. They wouldn’t stay on because of the shea butter we’d rub on his legs. After trying to “fix it” and explain to him that operation Band-Aid was a failed mission this time around, I decided to cover his owies with leggings. Only, he wasn’t having it.

“These’ll make your legs all better.” “No!” “But they are so cute! They’re blue with black squares and red stripes!” “No, I want Band-Aid!” “These are big Band-Aids! See!” Confused, he took my word and handed his legs over for me to put his “big Band-aids” on. And all was well. A meltdown was a-brewin’ and I was able to quickly recover. I walked away from that situation feeling like the cleverest mom ever. This is not the first or last time I’ve had to practice toddler trickery, but this time in particular provided me with a mommy high. And I bet next time will be more exhausting, probably leading to my defeat. And that’s when I’ll reroute him to Daddy.

What techniques have you used to coax your kids into being cooperative? Have any techniques backfired?

Shelly

Tuesday 10th of April 2012

When my little guy wants to cut the fool he gets asked "Do we need to tell Daddy about this?" He is quickly whipped into shape. You see, Daddy is the HARD one and has really pounded discipline into the boy. It's funny because as hard as Dwayne is on William, he still prefers to be with Daddy any day of the week! :)

I keep Daddy in my back pocket when I need to use him ;-)

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