Master of the Manipulators
March 14, 2006
My daughter has turned into the master manipulator. It all began innocently enough with potty training. I did the same thing with all five of her older brothers. Use the potty, get a candy. Eventually no candy was necessary. It was never the big of a deal. In retrospect, I guess they didn’t really think that much about it.
My daughter, on the other hand, negotiated the kind of candy and how many she should get. Chocolate (Shlock-late) is for when you make poopies (ummm, okay and ewwwww) and skittles, starburst, or gummy worms are for peeps. She will sit on the potty and loudly announce through the door for all to hear, “That’s a M&M!”
I should have known better than to try and bribe her to do anything. I should have known that she would see through it and turn it around to use it to her advantage.
Lately she has been VERY into princesses. She even has pictures of some godforsaken princesses hanging up in her bedroom. I tried to get her to hang them up behind her bedroom door, but she didn’t like that idea. She wanted to be able to see them.
I have found myself saying things like, “Princesses like skin on their apples” or “Princesses eat the crust of their sandwiches” or “Princesses like to take naps”
The last example caused her to respond, “I not a princess. I just a little girl… with no penis.” I am not sure why the penis part is important, but it is.
Today I found my daughter painting her body with her paint set, instead of painting on the paper. Before I could say anything she looked up at me and said, “Princesses like to be colorful”
Indeed they do.
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March 14th, 2006 at 2:09 pmOops.
I laughed out loud about the M&Ms.
I could not potty train my kids that way I’d eat all the ‘bribes’.
We have a princess too.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:11 pmI have a princess too. I love the no penis part. Very funny. I know you know this, but girls are so different than boys. They will always try to outsmart you.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:20 pmShe’s so cute! My daughter would do the same thing.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:42 pmThat’s funny. My husband worked the M&M bribe with our son. I remember one morning him coming into the bathroom and seeing if I was pooping. When I informed that yes, I was, he asked me if I would get some M&M’s. When I told him no, he stood there for a minute, then looked at me and asked if he could have my M&M’s. That’s the only story I’ve ever related to others about me pooping.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:45 pmI laughed out loud too.
My princess looked at me and said “what mommy?”
The girls (esp my 7 year old) LOVE to hang crap on their walls!
Cute baby in a magazine? On the wall.
New American Girl Catalog? Put half of it on the wall!
I am forever sneaking stuff down off the walls when they aren’t looking.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:46 pmUg. We spent two looong years in the princess phase. Thought it would never end.
She still wants to be a princess, but now she wants to be a historically acurate princess, right out of the SCA. At least it doesn’t involve anything pink.
March 14th, 2006 at 2:58 pmI know this princess likes to be colorful…:)
March 14th, 2006 at 3:08 pmYes, and one day, the Princess will want to wear make-up and have a cell phone, because all of her Princess friends wear make-up and have cell phones. And she will be bribing you with her pretty Princess eyes!!!
That’s where I am right now with my one Princess! Good luck to you.
Dot, mom to 6
March 14th, 2006 at 3:33 pmShe might be too smart for you ; )
How can you resist the cuteness, though? Do you still have to entertain her?
March 14th, 2006 at 4:05 pmShe is such a clever girl, negotiation will get her far. She will have her brothers eating out of her palm.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:28 pmThe “that’s an M&M!” comment made me suddenly think about the old joke with the chocolate covered raisins.
Our girl is almost to the princess phase (but we’ve been calling her a princess for two years, you’da thought she’d caught on before now)
March 14th, 2006 at 5:38 pmThat is so precious. Can I borrow her? ;^)
March 14th, 2006 at 5:56 pmMy princess is 4 and still expects lavish praise for pooping on the potty. It varies from girl to girl, though. My oldest likes princesses, but never thought she WAS one.
March 14th, 2006 at 8:01 pm“That’s a M&M!”
That cracks me up!
March 14th, 2006 at 10:27 pmShe’s a smart kid. Be careful with the princess thing. I called my friends daughter princess starting when she was 5 for 2 weeks no one was allowed to call her anything else. Finally her grandfather said enough. She’s 18 now and I still call her princess but she answers to other names also.
M&M’s are the best bribery for potty training. Thanks, never put the chocolate thing together.
March 14th, 2006 at 10:49 pmChris, All I could think of with your last comment is that she is as colorful as you!
March 15th, 2006 at 12:40 ammore power to her. she’s honing those manipulation skills on her six brothers and one smart mom. they’ll serve her well later on in life.
and if she’s the princess, doesn’t that make you queen?
March 15th, 2006 at 8:31 amOur daughters sound like twins. It’s never a few Sweetarts for her– it’s always a specific number.
And my kid loves Princesses too. I don’t get it. I don’t push it on her, but she loves it. She loves the girly stuff.
March 15th, 2006 at 9:05 am“a masters degree in manipulation before their first birthday” we’ve been tweaked by 2 princesses and the 3 kings- they want to go right to the top. hope it serves them well in life!
March 15th, 2006 at 9:44 amOh, my. I wonder what I would ever do with a daughter…
March 15th, 2006 at 11:10 amI’ve been looking for something to yell after making poopies, and now I have it!
“That’s a M&M!”
March 15th, 2006 at 3:34 pmThanks for some laughs,
March 15th, 2006 at 5:00 pmfrom the mom of two “princess manipulators”.
That’ a M&M - too funny! We tried the candy route too!
March 15th, 2006 at 6:02 pmGirls learn very very quickly the tricks to get what they want. My daughter is very calculating and manipulating. Boys just don’t seem to think about these kinds of things with such planning and insight into what makes other people tick the way girls do. At least not in my experience.
March 16th, 2006 at 11:41 am[...] We went up to Grandma’s house yesterday for Thanksgiving, and did a little sledding and a little eating (oh, shut up about how much eating). Brianne (my blonde, leggy sister-in-law whom I hate love) (just kidding of course - I think my short little legs are just fine, thank you very much) was grilled asked by me about her potty-training success with 25 month-old Ben, and I came home inspired. I told Bri that one of my favorite bloggers, Chris, had mentioned using candy as a little pee-pee motivator, and Bri said ‘yes, jelly bellies are what we use.’ Hmm… [...]
December 30th, 2006 at 1:21 am