The Primary MO

Have you been around a four year-old lately? Negotiation is the primary MO. Our little Mina tries to holds us hostage and release us when she’s got what she needs.

Sadly for her, grandma is a Class A ogre. Here’s how a recent round of back-and-forth went.

Mina at bedtime: I want to watch five [episodes of] Bebefinn.

For the uninitiated, this is a show her parents don’t want her to watch but grandpa and grandma sneak in a few episodes when she’s been a good listener. Parents know and turn a blind eye.

Me: Nope, three.

Mina: Nooooo, faaaaive.

Me: One!

Mina: Thwee, pleeeeease!

Me: Done.

Both of us smiled at our wins and she snoozed off in a few minutes. She’s also really good at setting and abiding by timers. We hear these commands frequently.

Ok Googo set a timer for faaive minutes and call it shawo.

Awexa set a timer for five minutes and call it dinno.

She knows how to invoke each assistant and remarkably the tech can decipher her toddler words better than we can.

Yesterday she called and asked me: Are you crying for me? I thought, how cute! And immediately realized that underpinning the cuteness is an ulterior motive: melt grandma’s heart and then the possibility of reward opens up. Smart, but not cool.

She adores Dadu - grandpa - because he sneaks in more Bebefinns than grandma does, but she also blames Dadu for everything that goes wrong in her life. When I asked her who made a mess with shoe prints in the back of the passenger seat in our car, she emphatically said, “Dadu!” as if he is an octopus that can swing his legs from the front seat, twist them around and make tiny footprints on the back of his seat! Confronted with this mental picture, she giggled uncontrollably.

She withholds kisses for Dadu until I tell her that he does not like to be kissed and then she chases him around the house trying to kiss him! Mina reminds me of Josh to whom we had to constantly say the opposite to nudge him in the right direction.

In these weird times, being around a toddler is the best medicine I could ask for. She keeps us sane and keeps our mind away from the divisiveness, dysfunctionality and cruelty emanating from our leaders. Until things get better, I will focus on a dogged toddler with fantastical ideas, intrepid can-do and an unlimited supply of hugs and kisses. The world can certainly do with more toddlers to charm the ills away.