Hey all, something amazing happened to me today that I have to share… my almost two and a half year old son said to me randomly in the middle of playing “Sign said ‘Put on socks!’” … what is amazing about that is that he was referring to our outing yesterday at the Granville Island Kid’s Market, where he had to put on socks to play in the play area.
At first when I told him he had to put on socks, he outright refused. He absolutely did not want to put on socks, no matter how many times I told him that he had to. Desperate, I showed him the sign that said that all children must be wearing socks, and I told him, “This sign says you have to put on socks to play here.” Wow, little did I know the success that this would have… right away, he said, “Sign says ‘Put on socks!’” and proceeded to let me put his socks on him without any fuss or muss at all! It was like telling him he should eat chocolate ice cream.
Then today, when he repeated this sentence, it showed that he remembered this whole event and totally accepted it as a given. I am definitely going to keep this little tool in my back pocket… it works better than “Serenity Now!”
It even worked the other day when we were passing a construction site… he wanted to go in, but outside there was a sign that said “Do not Enter” … despite all my pleading and begging, he kept itching further and further into the entrance. Just as I was about to collapse with exhaustion, I noted to him… “The sign says ‘Do Not Enter!’” He immediately backed away from the entrance and repeated “Sign says “Do Not Enter!’” so many times that I almost wished I hadn’t said it in the first place. I got almost the same reaction that I normally get when I tell him we are going to buy an M&M cookie.
So that’s it… one small sentence for a man, one giant leap for a toddler… try it out, if your child is anything like mine, it just might work for you too!

Join the jam!  What are some tactics you use to get your toddler to do something that they need to do, but don’t want to do?

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