A New Stage

As of a few weeks ago we entered a new phase with Miss Lily.

We are now in the land of reverse psychology.

Yes, Lily is 3. A very smart 3. She understands a whole lot, makes unbelievable connections and makes our jaw drop daily on some things she says to us. So, even though she is 3, we have a hard time believing how this is working. But it is. It is working amazingly well.

This is how most of our breakfast, lunch and dinner conversations go:

L-"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm done. Can I get down?"

M or S-"Really you're not hungry?!? You haven't eaten very much. Are you sure? Why don't you eat a few more bites of .... and then you can get down."

L- "No, I'm done. I don't want anymore."

M or S- "Well, you haven't eaten enough. You need to eat 3 more bites of .... before you can leave the table to go play."

L- "Crying. Whining. Sometimes yelling."

M or S- "Well, you can't eat it. You can't eat 3 bites of ..., there's no way. Just leave it and I'll eat it."

L- "Yes I can."

M or S- "No you can't."

L- "Yes I can. Watch."

M or S- "Wow. No Way. You can't eat 2 more bites of ..., there's no way you can do that too?!?"

This is very common now in our house. It's hysterical. We can pretty much use this technique to get Lily to do most of what she doesn't want to do. And, we get her to do it smiling and laughing. HA.

Mike and I are also hoping that this will work for awhile. My mom assures me it will last until she's at least 8 or 9. I'm crossing my fingers for 5 or 6 and Mike is certain that we will be using this in her college dining hall telling her that she can't use all of her meal plan or flex dollars.

Another great stage Lily is in is being competitive. Most everything is also a game. Who can get to their room first. Who can get ready for nap first. You name it, it's a game. And, most of the time Lily wins :). You know this because she'll yell, "I WIN".

We are really enjoying this stage mostly because we finally feel as though we can outsmart our three year old.