I Can’t Play Along With My Utterly Irrational Toddler’s Scheme Anymore
SlateDear Care and Feeding, Help—my 3-year-old, “Beth,” has to take her shoes and coat off FIRST when we walk in the door. I have tried referencing Daniel Tiger’s “We can do different things” and “You can’t always get what you want.” Over and over we have talked about how if Mommy has to pee or is very hungry, etc., she can’t always wait for Beth to be first. Yet as much as it might make things easier in the short term to just verrrry slowwwwly take off your coat most every time you come home, as it sounds like you usually do, I think it’s likely that will backfire, and she’ll so come to expect to “win” this race that to lose will remain intolerable far longer than it ought to. What you want her to understand is that the question “Who will take their coat off first?” has two answers: 1) “It’s basically random,” and 2) “It doesn’t matter.” Getting her to grasp answer No.
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