She plots and comes up with really good excuses to give when caught doing something she knows she's not supposed to be doing. Other times she doesn't care and chooses the punishment or scolding for the immediate gratification she is after. How can it be that a 33-month-old can do this so well already?
Vanessa loves treats. She obsesses and asks for them all day long. She even tilts her head, bats her pretty eyes, and shows the prettiest smile when asking in a soft and tender voice: "May I have a treat?" She's used to hearing "No, not right now." But that doesn't keep her from asking again and again.
Sometimes after trying with Mommy, she goes to Daddy and tries with him. She's catching on that it doesn't benefit her to try this tactic when Mommy and Daddy are in each other's presence -- "Vanessa, Daddy will tell you the same thing Mommy just told you. Right Daddy?"
Vanessa woke up one morning a few weeks ago asking about her chocolate bunny from Easter. She spotted it the day before when visiting Mommy in the den, a place I thought was good for hiding things. We were saving the chocolate bunny till we finished our treats in our Easter basket, stored on top of the fridge. After coming downstairs and seeming to accept the fact we were not beginning our day with chocolate, Vanessa went about her morning as usual, or so I thought . . .
Around 9 in the morning I had gone to the restroom. Vanessa seemed to be watching a favorite TV show. I was listening extra closely for her but she wasn't making a sound, so I figured she's in the chair where I left her. When I came back in the playroom, I couldn't see Vanessa. I called for her and she called back "Yes, Mama?" I followed her voice to the great room where she was sitting on the couch munchin' away on the ears of her chocolate bunny. It was like the girl had been waiting all morning for me to leave her alone for just one second. While I was in the bathroom, she scaled the nonclimbable gate and went into the den, grabbed her chocolate bunny box and took it to the great room where she proceeded to rip through the plastic and tear out the bunny. She had to have been planning with what she accomplished in the very little time she had. I grabbed the camera, of course, and scolded her. My words and taking her to the playroom to sit still for a few minutes didn't seem to faze her. She went willingly while patting her tummy and announcing "Mmm . . . that was good!"
And here Vanessa is pretending she's not up to anything. Vanessa often likes to play in her room for a bit after waking in the morning and from nap. This is when I hear some of her most creative moments play out. On this particular day I could hear that she was up to something questionable -- when the door is closed she often shares her plotting with her imaginary friends and stuffed animals, allowing me to overhear what she's up to. I grabbed the camera and opened the door. You could tell she quickly positioned herself to appear like she was just cuddling Elmo on her desk. When I asked what she was up to, she responded "Nothin'. Just sleeping." Then I caught glimpses of her looking at things hanging on the wall above her head and on a shelf located on the opposite wall. I knew right away that she had been climbing up there to take everything down.
She seems to understand most things she should and shouldn't do, but I pray hard we're able to help her develop a strong and nagging conscious!
I was pretty sneaky when I was Vanessa's age -- at the age of three I covered my little cousin from head to toe with baby powder that I retrieved from the top shelf of my bedroom closet, using a ladder from my brothers' bunk beds. One thing that I can say made me think twice before doing something was the song my grandmother always sang to me in a very gentle voice -- Oh Be Careful Little Hands (Eyes, Ears, Feet, Mouth). My grandmother would go into singing the appropriate verse when she suspected I was up to something. I now use it with Vanessa too, hoping for the same results. I seriously started hearing this song in my head!
