Trials And Tribulations. Oh What Fun.

Trying to negotiate with a toddler has proven to be as futile as trying to carry a bucket of steam across a football field during a punt return.  I am not saying it's impossible, but at this point in time the odds are against me.

First of all, I have a two and a half year old daughter who thinks she is 15.  She is also trying to ascertain how much clout she has within the nucleus of our family.  Which pretty well means we are in the oh so glorious "NO" stage.  I had hoped that we had bypassed this when we managed to get her to say; "No thank you" instead of the grating one syllable alternative.

It was cute, she would put her hand up as a cop would to stop traffic and with a loud shrilling voice yell; "NO THANK YOU!".  As obnoxious as it may have seemed, it always put a smile on my face, and at times I found myself struggling to keep a straight face when the issue was a little more serious.

Alas those days are gone for now.  At present when you ask my daughter if she is ready to go for her nap, she will answer with a resounding "NO".  When you press the issue, she responds with an even louder "NO", and to add emphasis she will clench her first and hit her thigh.

The clenched fist thigh striking action has been something my daughter has been working on since birth.  It started out with her tossing herself backwards when you were trying to change her diaper or when you didn't get the bottle in her mouth fast enough.  She then progressed to head butting things when she got angry or frustrated.  Nary an object was safe from her head-smashing version of personal justice.  This worked out just fine for her till the occasional miss calculation would occur.  We have hardwood flooring throughout our house.  Hardwood is somewhat forgiving when one chooses to head butt it.  Our granite counter tops, not so much. A cement sidewalk is even less forgiving.  So her head butts became push-ups where she would tentatively tap her forehead on the floor, in an angry way of course.

She then progressed to hitting things to get her point across.  You would ask her to pick up her toys or something that would involve an activity not on her approved list.  She would get mad and bring her fist of furry down upon our defenseless footstool, proclaiming her indignation to the situation.  This went on for a couple of weeks, right up until she got angry outside and the only object around to aid in her display of ire was a stone planter.

This brings us to our present stage; the fist clenched thigh strike.  After all her hard work in modifying and perfecting this beautiful expression of individuality, she still doesn't always get here way.

Don't take this the wrong way.  My daughter is a pretty happy go lucky kid.  She just has her moments, as does everyone.  In fact I find all this quite entertaining and it gets more and more difficult to keep a straight face when she does something new and even more hilarious.