ADDItude!

So, reverse psychology is supposed to be this great trick to use to get results that you really want, right? I mean, it's not hard to use, is it? However, when it comes to me wielding this great psychological power over the kids, it always goes awry. Why is it that I can't outwit a 3 year old? Seriously.

The other day, for instance, Addi was in her diaper, shirt and socks. She had no pants on because of a leaking diaper. That's the set up for the rest of this little tale. (Don't get me started on potty training.) Anyway, Addi likes to sneak pens and color her entire palm in ink. She's off playing by herself and then she comes up to you and shows you her hand and says Ta-Da!, like she did this day. Well, I gave her the exasperated look, as if that does any good, and went on with whatever I was doing. Addi also loves, loves, loves! to put on hand sanitizer. Obviously it didn't occur to me until I hear Addi say, "my hands are purple!" that I instantly knew what had happened. And like every story that involves messiness, it was too late. She had already wiped her hands on her shirt. I thought I handled it pretty good. And as it turns out, hairspray is good for something other than giving you sticky hair.

So, Addi is now wearing a diaper and socks after I yanked her shirt off to do damage control. She tells me that she doesn't want to get dressed and I'm okay with that until about 20 minutes later when I hear the front door open and close. A delivery truck had pulled up to our neighbor's house and Addi wanted to see what was happening. I go outside and find her riding down the sidewalk on her princess bike in socks and a diaper. Normally I wouldn't mind a runaway baby in a diaper outside, but when the baby is a 3 year old girl, it starts to be embarrassing. She won't willingly come inside, so I have to physically pick her up like a sack of potatoes, and unlike a sack of potatoes, she is kicking, screaming and crying. I should know better by now not to really trust a 3 year old when she says that she won't go out without clothes on, but logic is not one of my strengths. After collecting her out of the street two more times I finally say that big girls don't wear diapers, only babies do. This is where the reverse psychology comes in. However, instead of denying it like she usually does, she embraces it for all its worth. I told her that babies drink out of bottles and being the great mother than I am, accommodate her by giving her a bottle of milk. I continue to try the reverse psychology by saying that I will take her picture and send it to everyone so that they can see she is a baby and not a big girl. And to that she happily replied, "okay!" Thus, the pictures: