Wednesday, January 2, 2008

this cracked me up

I get those BabyCenter newsletters on what my baby should be doing for each month. When E was a baby, I would read each newsletter word-for-word as if it were the definitive guide to my child's development. Now that I'm such an expert parent (heh), I read it for entertainment. Case in point, this was in my What My 15-Month-Old is up to:
Whining and screaming: If your 15-month-old has started sounding like a hyena or worse, you're experiencing his intense desire to interact with you. Children thrive on their parents' attention, and a toddler this age will do just about anything to get yours. When he gets loud or whiny, kneel down to your child's level and tell him you're listening. If he keeps it up, calmly say, "I can't understand you when you talk like that. Please use your normal voice and I'll be happy to listen to what you're saying." Eventually, he'll get the message.
I mean...really? The "use your normal voice" doesn't work on my three-year-old...I'm pretty sure it will be useless on A.

We did put this yelling to good use tonight. We played this "game" where E and I would pretend to be asleep. A would creep up and yell "Ahhhh" to wake us up. E and I would pretend to be startled awake and yell back. Laughter would ensue. This kept the girls entertained while dinner was cooking. Good times, indeed.

1 comment:

Deep in the Heart said...

Cracks me up too. If you're 15 month old is in the middle of a temper tantrum, they're not going to listen a long explanation like that. I always liked the ignoring them trick. Then coming back in a minute or two and trying again. Jake's decided to answer every refusal , great and small, with huge screams himself. Hopefully this phase won't last long.