Yesterday, I spent half an hour walking the aisles of Walmart doing some shopping. In the cart with me, the 3-year-old, who barely paused to take a breath in the running monologue she carried on. And I mean it - every second we were in the store, her voice was going, going, going ...
As we were rolling through the parking lot, I leaned over the cart to kiss her, out of sheer desperation to try and get her to stop talking. Afterward, she beamed at me, and said, "Oh, Mommy, that makes my heart feel good!"
My first reaction? To wonder where she gets this kind of saccharine manipulation. I'm certainly not someone who gets her way by deploying cuteness and over-sugared wiles. (Well, baked goods, I grant you ... ) Is this something little girls learn from TV and society, or is it hard-wired in certain personalities, that sweetness and light get you farther?
My second reaction was to imagine either of her brothers having the same reaction to being kissed (in public, no less!) - and I realized that if they ever did, I would melt into a puddle of goo right there in the parking lot, and immediately do their bidding. Interesting double standard, no? But as I pointed out to the kindergartener yesterday, if you expect something all the time, once it happens it has ceased to be special. Veronica's overuse of otherwise delightful comments such as "Oh, Mommy, you're so beautiful" has robbed them of the meaning they would have if they came from the other two, who aren't given to constant bombardments of extravagant compliments.
(And before you call me on it, yes, in 10 years when she can't stand me and the insults fly in the same frequency, I will be missing this stage!)
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