Please and Thank You
I had to laugh at this entry on Dooce.com today, because we are happening to have a very similar experience just now:
http://www.dooce.com/archives/nubbin/03_25_2005.html
We've been trying to teach Lilli mainly how to say "please," because she basically makes our brains explode when she wants something, what with the high pitched shrieking and whining and all. Usually she does this when she wants to nurse. She will push me back on the bed, straddle me, pull up my shirt and maul by boobies. Very violating, even when it is your baby doing it. Hey, I guess she's thirsty. So anyway, Bob and I will say over and over "say please" and then she just shrieks louder in frustration because, clearly, we are just too stupid to understand what she is trying to say. How stupid can we be? She's hitting me on the boobies and pulling up my shirt! So Bob will take her away from me and then she will cry the cry that should never reach human ears, the cry that means "No! Don't take away my boobies or I will DIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!" (On a sidenote: I'm not sure how I'm ever going to wean this girl. Ironically, the whining for the boobies may literally drive me to drink.)
This seems like the perfect time to introduce etiquette, no? When your child is screaming and clawing at your chest? We repeat "please, please, please" over and over and she just gets madder and madder. So we gave up that time. She won round one. So tonight, we decided to go for Round Two. We were at my parents house for dinner, and she was REALLY enjoying the salty strips of seaweed my mom was feeding her. Since she really wanted them, and yet they were not boobies that could inspire The Scream, we decided this was a perfect time to spring "please" on her again. I don't know how many times we said "please," but clearly Lilli thought we were pretty stupid that we couldn't tell she wanted that rice wrapped in seaweed. She made the usual ARRRRRR! noises and then just finally opened her mouth REALLY WIDE and LUNGED towards my mother. Look you stupid people! she seemed to be saying. Look at my mouth! It is open! Put the food in it you dummies! However, with much much persistence, we finally got her to say it. We celebrated and clapped our hands and congratulated her and then the piece of food working its way happily towards her mouth. . .well, it dropped on the floor. So much for the that educational moment. Luckily, my mother made a quick recovery with a backup strip of seaweed and although she's sometimes saying "please" after the fact, at least she's saying it. Now we will have to work on "thank you." That would SO be music to my ears.
http://www.dooce.com/archives/nubbin/03_25_2005.html
We've been trying to teach Lilli mainly how to say "please," because she basically makes our brains explode when she wants something, what with the high pitched shrieking and whining and all. Usually she does this when she wants to nurse. She will push me back on the bed, straddle me, pull up my shirt and maul by boobies. Very violating, even when it is your baby doing it. Hey, I guess she's thirsty. So anyway, Bob and I will say over and over "say please" and then she just shrieks louder in frustration because, clearly, we are just too stupid to understand what she is trying to say. How stupid can we be? She's hitting me on the boobies and pulling up my shirt! So Bob will take her away from me and then she will cry the cry that should never reach human ears, the cry that means "No! Don't take away my boobies or I will DIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!" (On a sidenote: I'm not sure how I'm ever going to wean this girl. Ironically, the whining for the boobies may literally drive me to drink.)
This seems like the perfect time to introduce etiquette, no? When your child is screaming and clawing at your chest? We repeat "please, please, please" over and over and she just gets madder and madder. So we gave up that time. She won round one. So tonight, we decided to go for Round Two. We were at my parents house for dinner, and she was REALLY enjoying the salty strips of seaweed my mom was feeding her. Since she really wanted them, and yet they were not boobies that could inspire The Scream, we decided this was a perfect time to spring "please" on her again. I don't know how many times we said "please," but clearly Lilli thought we were pretty stupid that we couldn't tell she wanted that rice wrapped in seaweed. She made the usual ARRRRRR! noises and then just finally opened her mouth REALLY WIDE and LUNGED towards my mother. Look you stupid people! she seemed to be saying. Look at my mouth! It is open! Put the food in it you dummies! However, with much much persistence, we finally got her to say it. We celebrated and clapped our hands and congratulated her and then the piece of food working its way happily towards her mouth. . .well, it dropped on the floor. So much for the that educational moment. Luckily, my mother made a quick recovery with a backup strip of seaweed and although she's sometimes saying "please" after the fact, at least she's saying it. Now we will have to work on "thank you." That would SO be music to my ears.
posted by mariko at 11:40 PM
2 Comments:
I feel your pain. We were up at 4:30 AM with a WIDE AWAKE BABY who thinks that 4:30 is a great time to start the day. We let him cry for about half an hour and then sent no-boobs-dad into the nursery to try and put him back to sleep. I held him and sang to him for about an hour and he finally checked out to my rendition of "O LITTLE BOY YOU'RE KILLIN' YOUR PARENTS." Then he slept for fifteen minutes and woke up with a big smile on his face. "Oh, sorry!" the look said. "I guess 5:45 is when I start my day." I'm contemplating a vesectomy. But what I really think he is doing is lobbying to be an only child.
Yes, babies seem to think that the butt crack of dawn is the perfect start to the day. Lilli has been waking up at 5:30 and will usually only go back to sleep with boobie help, usually until 7:30. Still. Before children, I don't think I ever woke up before 9 if I could help it. (Hmmm, I guess that means I never had a nine to five job. Now maybe I never will!) We have decided that Lilli has forgotten that she doesn't need "mama" specifically to go to sleep, so dad is back on night time patrol, after a couple of very LOUD nights. We will see how this goes. Good luck to you as well!
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