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Aunt 1, Niece 0
Apr. 19th, 2010 07:43 pmI babysat my niece this past weekend. My sister and BIL had tickets to the Red Sox game in Boston. Since they like to go up early, get dinner, hit a bar, and then see the game, they left at 1pm and it was just me and E. E. just turned three today.
So we're sitting in the living room, playing with E.'s Thomas the Tank Engine trains on a large track set up on the floor.
"Auntie, I want another train."
"Which train do you want E.?"
"Gordon."
"Okay. Where's Gordon?"
"On the refrigerator. I'll show you."
And sure enough, there was a Gordon (one of the engines), all nice and new and in a box. Now I didn't (at first) remember why Gordon was up there, but it struck me as slightly suspicious that Gordon would be in a box and obviously never opened.
"What's Gordon doing up there, E.?"
"It's because I haven't gone pee pees. I want him."
Aha! That's right! Gordon is being used as an incentive for potty training, which E. is completely uninterested in (so far). Auntie would have been in big trouble if she had taken Gordon down from the refrigerator.
"Sorry E., but Gordon has to stay on top of the refrigerator until Mommy says it's okay."
"But I want him."
"Nope, not until Mommy or Daddy says yes."
"But I want him, Auntie."
"Nope!"
And so forth, and so on until she gave it up for a lost cause.
Thank the gods for my niece's lack of guile! I imagine that the victories will become progressively harder from now on. She's very smart, but luckily for me, she hasn't yet perfected her powers of cuteness and pleading. I'm sure she'll discover how much of a sucker her Aunt is in the near future....
So we're sitting in the living room, playing with E.'s Thomas the Tank Engine trains on a large track set up on the floor.
"Auntie, I want another train."
"Which train do you want E.?"
"Gordon."
"Okay. Where's Gordon?"
"On the refrigerator. I'll show you."
And sure enough, there was a Gordon (one of the engines), all nice and new and in a box. Now I didn't (at first) remember why Gordon was up there, but it struck me as slightly suspicious that Gordon would be in a box and obviously never opened.
"What's Gordon doing up there, E.?"
"It's because I haven't gone pee pees. I want him."
Aha! That's right! Gordon is being used as an incentive for potty training, which E. is completely uninterested in (so far). Auntie would have been in big trouble if she had taken Gordon down from the refrigerator.
"Sorry E., but Gordon has to stay on top of the refrigerator until Mommy says it's okay."
"But I want him."
"Nope, not until Mommy or Daddy says yes."
"But I want him, Auntie."
"Nope!"
And so forth, and so on until she gave it up for a lost cause.
Thank the gods for my niece's lack of guile! I imagine that the victories will become progressively harder from now on. She's very smart, but luckily for me, she hasn't yet perfected her powers of cuteness and pleading. I'm sure she'll discover how much of a sucker her Aunt is in the near future....
