Scene: Early morning and I am talking to my 2 year old who is wearing nothing but his diaper.

“Can you go upstairs and get your clothes?”

“No!”

“Yes”

“No!”

“Yes! Go upstairs and get your clothes.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No want to!”

“Okay. Do NOT go upstairs and get your clothes. No! No! No!”

“….”

“No! You can NOT go get your clothes.”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“YES! My go get my clothes.”

“Oh, okay.”

******

This works for older kids too. You have to bit a bit more subtle. But it works nonetheless.

Heavy sigh, “I wish I had time to mow the lawn this afternoon.”

“I can do it, Mom.”

“I’m not sure you are big enough to handle the lawn mower.”

“Sure I am.”

“I don’t know. It concerns me. You might injure yourself.”

“I can do it, Mom. Really let me try!”

Long sigh…. “Well you have grown quite a bit over this past year. I guess so….”

And the child skips off, happy and not realizing that it is a chore they are doing. This technique works well for spouses too. But this isn’t that sort of blog.