Please is the Word

Do you ever wonder if your kids listen to a thing you say? That's really not a trick question. I know kids have selective hearing ("Please eat your green food." No response. But ask, "Do you want ice cream for every meal today?" and they're at your side before you can put the question mark on your sentence.) And if the TV is on, Josh has absolutely no hearing under the 115-decibel level of a sandblaster (which I have been known to reach at least once a day). But there must be something in the subconscious of a child that allows him to absorb the lessons you're trying to teach...eventually.

The usual response when I ask Josh and Zach to do something.

Often (and I do mean often), I tell the boys that saying "please" over and over again when I've denied an overly ambitious request ("Pleeeeeeeeeeease, can I eat gummies for breakfast."  "Can I pleeeeeeeeeeease sleep with Boingo the Devil Cat?"), doesn't make me change my mind.

I'm trying really hard not to give in when I've already said No to something. All the experts say that it only encourages more whining, begging, pleading, groveling, tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth because kids know you'll eventually give in to the non-stop, high-pitched screech of a pre-schooler. I usually start out denying the request in a calm, reasoned, sing-songy voice, but after the 61st time, I'm yelling back, "STOP SAYING 'PLEASE'!" (which is absurd since I've spent nearly four years getting them to say the darn word without prompting). "SAYING 'PLEASE' OVER AND OVER AGAIN WON'T MAKE ME CHANGE MY MIND!"

So, the other day, Zach was trying to weasel something away from Josh by employing the aforementioned method, when Josh finally turned to him and said, "'Please' doesn't make me change my mind" and he walked away. I nearly broke out in song. My boy listens to his mother; I've been restored. Now if I could just get him to put his rocks and sticks outside without being asked....