Wrapped around his little fingers
My son has both of his grandparents wrapped around his little fingers. Everything he asks them for, they give him. I think he actually knows this and knows how to use his little weapons of cuteness and smiles and snuggles and hugs. With me and his father, he doesn’t try it as much although that could be because we’ve figured it out.
Mirror that my son was practicing in
One day, when he was one, I put him down for a nap. An hour later, I went to check up on him and guess what he was doing? He had stood up in his crib to look in the mirror and he was making crying faces in the mirror! He would scrunch up his face and then make it look like he was about to cry. I couldn’t believe it! He was practicing how to fake his crying so that he could get what he wanted. He couldn’t even talk yet and he knew how to practice!
From that point on, my husband and I have always been keenly aware of what he’s been trying to do. If he looks like he’s going to start crying, we wait to see if real tears flow down his face or if he just stops and nothing else happens. About half the time, he completely stops after we ignore him, while the other half of the time, real tears flow down his face in waves.
With his grandparents, I’ve tried to tell them that he might be faking it, but they just won’t listen and I think he knows that they will give him whatever he wants. So, I just let them be since I can’t really fight it. I try to remind them, but they are so sad when they have to deny him anything – a toy, some more food, another game. At 2 years old, my son already has his grandparents wrapped around his fingers.
I don’t forsee this changing anytime soon, but I know that I won’t be letting him get away with everything at home. At home, there will be rules that he has to follow and things he has to learn. I’ll teach him what he can and can’t do and show him that he can’t try to manipulate his dad and I or he will be in trouble. But, wow, this is all new to me! Now that he’s getting older, I have some things to learn too.
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Tagged With fake his crying, setting rules for toddlers, wrapped around his fingers
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