Monday, January 30, 2006

Manipulations of a 3 year-old mind

Tonight Erin had a funny "solution" to a problem we were having in the car. Staff/leadership from University Church loaded up and drove to Bonner Springs tonight to share the vision of Nazarene Secular Campus Ministries and University Church with the congregation there. I drove separately, and missed a few minutes of the service. David and Erin rode home with me, though, and our problem was having too many talkers at the same time. David was trying to share a voice mail he'd received, I was asking about the part of the service I missed, and Erin was concerned about where/what we were going to be eating for dinner. Now, Erin, of course, feels she takes first place whenever there is a dispute as to who should be talking to mommy -- in her mind, it is a hands-down, no-brainer decision. We are trying to teach her that sometimes she needs to wait her turn, and allow others to speak or at least finish their conversations. Tonight, she had a great idea ...

"Erin, we're going to take turns talking, and right now, it's Daddy's turn to talk to mommy. You had your turn and shared about restraunts with mommy, and now it's Daddy's turn."

"No, it's my turn! I am always allowed to talk to mommy! Dad, it's not your turn! We are NOT taking turns, I am just going to talk to mommy! You are not allowed to talk to her. It is MY turn!"

"Erin, how can it be your turn, I thought you said we weren't taking turns?"

"Well, we aren't, see we can all talk."

"Oh? How is that going to work?"

"Well, (most resolutions begin with 'well')you can talk to yourself, and I'll just talk to mommy. See how easy that is?"

After much laughter, and several pleas from the backseat to divulge the source of the humor in the situation, we decided, that yes, it was a "valid" solution, and although it wasn't the choice we took, it was a creative, (yet manipulative) solution to a tricky problem. Here comes the diva!

1 comment:

Krista said...

Oh... I ALWAYS love a good (Princess) Erin story! Very entertaining. :)