I want a Cheerio!

Evie is at a stage where she somewhat understands that actions have consequences.  I would say that it is still hard to reason with her (as it probably is with any two-year-old), but she is starting to grasp the concept that good behavior = a reward and bad behavior = not getting what you want and/or a time out.  I wish I could say that this means that she’s always good, but that’s not the case.  She’s learning right from wrong, but oftentimes she just doesn’t care.  When she’s doing something that she shouldn’t be doing, like eating a crayon, she’ll hide in corner or behind a chair.   She knows that she’s not supposed to eat crayons so she’ll hide it from us.  She knows it is ‘bad’ behavior so I guess that’s something.  Now we if she would just stop eating the crayons…

Going along with this trying to get Evie to understand the concept that she cannot everything she wants exactly when she wants it.  Now, I know plenty of adults who have yet to grasp this concept so it’s important to me to help Evie understand this now.  That being said, she is doesn’t really grasp it at all yet.  The other night we were in a store and Evie said “I want a Cheerio”.  The following ‘conversation’ ensued:

Evie:  I want a Cheerio.

Me:  That is not how a nice girl asks for something.

Evie:  Pweese.

I check the diaper bag and realize that we don’t have any Cheerios.

Me:  I don’t have any Cheerios. 

Evie:  I want a Cheerio!

Me:  I’m sorry Evie.  I don’t have any right now.  You have to wait til we go home.

Evie:  No Mama!  No!  I want a Cheerio!

Me:  I don’t have any Evie.  You will have to wait!

Evie:  I want a Cheerio!  I want a Cheerio!  I WANT A CHEERIO!

Me:  You need to stop yelling.  This is not how a good girl acts.

Evie:  No Mama!  No!  I not be good girl.  I bad girl!!

Um….seriously.  Well, at least she’s honest.

Evie:  I WANT A CHEERIO!!

This is a somewhat extreme reaction that happens when she doesn’t get what she wants right away.  Pat and I can usually distract her with something else and get her to refocus, but not always.  We do always try and be consistent though.  If we tell her that she will get a reward for bring good, we follow though.  We were Babies R Us the other day and they have one of those rides in the front of the store.  This ride happens to be Barney.  As soon as Evie saw it she said “Barney!  I want Barney!”  I told her that I needed to find her a new shirt, but that if she was a good little girl, we could see Barney on our way out.  Miraculously, she accepted that and was good the entire time I shopped.  As we went to leave, I hoped that she had forgotten about Barney, but as soon as we checked out, she said “Barney Mama!”.  How could I deny her when she had done exactly what I asked?  So she got to sit next to Barney (we did not actually turn the ride on).   It took a bit of convincing to get her to leave Barney when we were done, but we left the store without any tears or tantrums.  And I consider that a victory.