Being two must be hard. There are naps that are thrust upon you when you are screaming from being tired. People are trying to take away the sacred art of pooing in your diaper. Now that you can talk people even start trying to teach you manners. I am certain by watching my Guin that saying please might indeed be lethal. Most days being the mother of a two year old is fun. Mine is especially funny. She laughs often and is we just plain silly.
Any mother of a toddler may tell you that you have to choose your battles. One of the battles I have chosen is basic manners. Saying please and thank you are important. For Guin saying thank you is fine, bless you is easy, as is excuse me. However, the word please must bring a bitter taste to her mouth.
Most parent know that you never know when you will have to go to battle with a toddler, they are erratic and chaotic little people. It could be the cup of milk they want, the mismatched shoes they are trying to wear or putting up their hair. It always comes on suddenly and is completely unexpected. Yesterday we went to battle over please.
I think I may have mentioned that Guin tries to rule the roost here. Right now often comes after she has barked an order at someone. The order for more milk was barked at me last night followed promptly with the words right now. So as she has her cup in hand she walks up to me and says, “I want some more milk, RIGHT NOW!” So I informed her that she needed to ask nicely. I even gave her a choice of I want some more milk, please or Can I have some more milk, Please. Apparently neither was a good option. She nicely barked at me, “I want some more milk!” I said, “you want some more milk please? Can you ask nicely?”
This is the part I was unaware of. By her response, I was certain that saying please may indeed be deadly. She would certainly come to some form of serious harm if the words please came out of her mouth. She flung herself to the ground and screamed….”I WANT MY MILK RIGHT NOW!!!” After the screaming came a full on fit with arms flinging and legs kicking the floor. She was at it for a good ten minutes. I made sure nothing was in the way that would cause harm and let her have at it. When she was done, she came to the kitchen, cup in hand. “I want some milk….pleeaase!” The please came out as if the word tasted sour.
To my sweet daughter please is the worst word in the world. It clearly has a horrible taste to it. I was just happy to have won the battle for the day. What I love the most about battles with my two year old is that she forgives and forgets so easily. I was getting hugs and kisses in no time. We played and read books and had a pretty good rest of the day. To top it all off, it appears that saying please will not actually kill her.
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