The Sleep Negotiator

My two-year old Owen is getting good at the manipulation game, especially as it pertains to going to sleep. He knows how to play his mother and for a certain amount of time he knew how to play me, then I realized the key to getting him to do what you want him to do, and it's the same advice for buying a new car . . . be willing to walk away.

Owen thinks he needs to stall with a series of ploys, first he won't lay down, then he won't let you cover him, then he wants to have a puppet show, all in order to keep you from turning off the light and leaving him to sleep. This kid has more stall tactics then Dean Smith's Carolina teams of the 80's.

But I learned, and have attempted to impart this wisdom on Renea, you have to be willing to walk away. I tell him to lay down, I will cover him, if he says "No Daddy." Then I tell him, "Good night, love you, see ya in the morning." I get half way down the stairs, and suddenly he turns into that car sales man that doesn't want to see his comission walk out the door, "Daddy! Cover Feet! Cover Feet!" which in two-year old speak means, "I'm laying down, I did what you want, now please cover me so I can sleep." I walk up the stairs, cover his feet, he isn't happy that he had to cave, so he calls for Mommy to lay with him, "Mommy too. Mommy too." I tell him Mommy is on the phone (which in our house is never a lie) and that he needs to go to sleep and be quiet. I say, "Love you Owen." As I walk down the stairs. I hear a, "Boo-Boo Daddy." (which is Owen for "I love you").

He isn't happy, some tears are shed, but he knows that he has lost, and that is hard at any age to handle.