Clever as a fox

Yesterday, Meredith was having some trouble following directions. Mostly she was doing things to her sister that weren't quite safe. I'd remind her not to wrap her legs around her sister, and then seconds later she'd be doing it again. This happened several times; sometimes because she was being careless and forgetful, sometimes because she was being defiant. (And sometimes it is hard to tell.)

As the pattern continued, I warned her that she needed to do a better job listening and following instructions and not misbehaving. If she defied a warning again, she would be unable to watch television for the rest of the day. Meredith treasures being able to watch Curiouis George or Super Why on PBS on some evenings, so this is often a strong incentive.

It didn't take long for me to be true to my promise. It was followed by some low-level pleading for another chance, but she had already gotten a couple of second chances.

About a half hour later Meredith asked if she could watch television. I said no and reminded her why. She pouted. A little later, she asked me again. The response was the same. I asked her to stop asking me questions she already knows the answer to. When she went ahead and asked later in the afternoon, I said, "Why are you keep asking me that question? I've already answered it several times." Meredith responded, mostly under her breath to herself, "I'm hoping he'll forgot." Because she was mumbling, I asked her to repeat. "I said I hoped you'll forget and let me watch television."

It's not a surprise that Meredith is employing the hopeful method of repeated asking. I was a little surprised that she so clearly verbalized her strategy; and that she actually coolly admitted her strategy to me.

I told Meredith that it was very impolite to ask someone a question that they have already clearly answered. She took this to heart and proceeded to fall back on the pleading method: "Please? I'll be good from now on?"

Meredith has already tried the method of going to another parent, hoping for ignorance, when some policy has been handed down. This has been met with little success so far. But the scheming is worrisome. At some point she is going to be more clever and able to navigate around us. Already, when denied sugary treats she knows to go to the neighbors to get a popsicle. I'm thinking we're getting a little preview to what we're dealing with 5 or 10 years down the road.