Reverse phsychology.

The other day as we were driving home, Lucy starting whining, saying she had to go to the bathroom. I told her we were almost home and she could go when we got there...

Now, I am not like my dad... who thought that four hours away was close enough to be considered almost home... we really were almost home... less than five minutes away, actually... definitely a reasonable amount of time for a fully potty trained, never has an accident five year old to hold it.

But Lucy was not buying it. She said over and over,

"Mommy!! I CAN'T hold it!!"

She could too. I knew it, she knew it. But whining is fun! So let's do it anyway!

After several dozen repetitions of "But I CAN'T hold it!" ringing forth from the back seat, I said this:

"Okay, Lucy. If you can't hold it, it's okay with me. Go ahead and pee, and then when we get home you can clean it up."

Lucy immediately stopped whining, and said, "What?!"

So I said, "If you can't hold it, go ahead and go. You'll just have to clean the mess up when we get home."

Then she said, "But I really like these blue jeans. I don't WANT to pee in them."

So I said, "Oh. Well if you can't hold it, I guess you don't have a choice. It's too bad. Cleaning up pee is not fun."

She slumped down in her booster seat and crossed her arms across her chest, obviously discouraged that simple logic had cornered her in to NOT whining the entire trip home.

"I guess I can hold it..." she finally consented.

Hah! Victory for the logical, you will not whine all afternoon Mommy!

Lucy, in all her awesome sweetness and capability is my kid that is most prone to full blown drama attacks when things don't go her way... she has most definitely improved with age, and with the most welcome realization that the world doesn't revolve around her and her hugely important needs.... you know, like NOT sharing her birthday cake, or finding Barbie's shoe this very second because patience isn't a word in her vocabulary... or peeing... RIGHT NOW! But it still happens sometimes. We're working through it.

In other news, I got a friend request on facebook from a ten year old. I know the kid. He's a nice kid. I'll happily be his friend. But seriously. What the heck does a ten year old need to do on facebook? Perhaps reconnect with his old girlfriend from the first grade? Weird.