Outwitted

I've been having an extraordinarily successful run of reverse psychology lately with A., who will be 2.5 at the end of October. When she refuses to do something I've asked, I simply announce that I'm going to do it myself. The results are usually predictable:

"No, Dad! I'm going to eat my lunch!"

"No, Dad! I'm going to throw it in the garbage!"

"No, Dad! I'm going to pee pee in my potty."

And so on.

Tonight, though, my strategy may have reached its limit. We were in her favorite toy store -- really the only toy store in Juneau, a small shop really -- when I decided, after half an hour of watching her play with a doll and a small horse, that it was time to go.

"So, um, it's time to go, kiddo," I told her.

"Nope."

After a brief pause, I reached into the bag of tricks.

"Hey, do you want to go get some ice cream?"

"Nope." She didn't even look up at me. So I went nuclear.

"Well, I'm going to go get some ice cream," I told her. "You can stay here."

"OK," she answered, again not even batting an eye in my direction. I was mildly surprised by the quick response, but I figured by the time I got halfway across the store, she'd be running after me, begging for ice cream.

Oh, no. I actually managed to completely exit the store without her even noticing. (A former student of mine was working there, so I wasn't being as irresponsible as it sounds.) I stood outside, listening for the expected howls of abandonment. They were not forthcoming. Like a 10-year-old who's threatened to run away but didn't have the guts or the know-how, I peered around the door and looked in.

A. was talking to my student and a couple of other customers. When I got back to where she was, I learned that she'd been explaining to them that her dad had gone to get ice cream -- and that she was now going to be living at the toy store on a more or less full time basis.

So I got totally schooled. By a two-year-old. Twenty minutes later, we actually left. And got ice cream anyway. I figure she earned it.

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