Holy Crap, It Works!

So lately, my bathroom reading has been "Love and Logic Parenting for Early Childhood." It is a very practical book with lots of ideas and examples of things to try. Some of the things they say to try, I have been doing somewhat instinctively before ever knowing the book existed. Hey, beginner's luck, right?

One of the things I just read yesterday was the "Energy Drain". The idea is that any annoying behavior that you want to change like whining, lying, interrupting you on the phone...these behaviors give you "energy drain" and the child has to figure out something that will charge you up again.

Tonight, we went over to Papa and Nana's house and Abby was having a rough night not wanting to share toys or Papa with Nathan. Then, she was going to get a treat of Cocoa Puffs, but the box ran out and she got less than she expected, so she threw a bit of a whiny/crying fit. She didn't take a nap today, but then she hardly ever takes a nap, but you could just tell she was acting VERY tired. She wanted to do a sleepover, but I didn't think rewarding her for that kind of behavior was good, so we came home. She wanted to get on the computer and play one of her games, but I told her she was done with the computer for the day. She starts to whine again. Jammies go on, and she's telling me she feels fine, she's not crying, she doesn't want to go to bed.

So, I suddenly have just a big energy drain! I told her I'm worn out from having to listen to all that whining and crying...I'm ready for bed. She says she's not. I asked her what she could do to help me stay up. She doesn't know. Well...you could pick up the toys, that would perk me up. She hesitates. Well, we could all just go to bed. That would help me feel better in the morning. She thinks about it and suddenly she goes to pick up her two favorite bed buddies and heads for the bathroom to brush her teeth! Holy Crap! Not only did she CHOOSE to go to bed, she was in bed an hour earlier than normal. I felt a strange indescribable feeling. Something between elation that she fell for it, disbelief that it worked so easily, and sinister "mua ha ha" type I-just-discovered-the-power-of-mind-control. Yes, maybe that's it...I'm now drunk with power!!!!