DUH, Mommy

This morning, I got a little sidetracked trying to set up the booster seat in the kitchen for Macie (I'm maybe a little too eager to get the high chair out of the corner). Because I spent 10 minutes on it that should have been spent getting the girls ready for school, I was rushing around trying to get everything set to go so we could make it to school in time for snack at 8:30a.

So, out of sheer necessity, I suggested something to Ivie that I NEVER thought she'd agree to. You know how she HATES the "dinosaur" nebulizer? And she has to be FORCED to sit on our lap and do it for the required 10-minute cycle? Well, about 4 minutes into our morning session, as we sat watching Pinky Dinky Doo, Macie finished her fruit and began whining to get out of her high chair. So I said to Ivie, nonchalantly so as to not get her fired up, "Hey, Iv, I'm going to let you sit on the chair and do the dinosaur by yourself, okay?".

And guess what? SHE DID IT. Without even a hint of resistance.

But I knew that it must be a fluke (brought on by her obsession with Pinky's story box), given her extreme hatred of the dinosaur and the fact that, in the past, we've had to HOLD HER DOWN on our laps to get her to finish. So no way would this ever happen again.

Then, tonight on our way home from pizza night with the Beales, I told Ivie that when we got home we were going to go straight upstairs, get our pj's on, and then do the dinosaur while we watched Bee Movie. She was like, "yeah, whatever, Mom", and shrugged it off. So after I got Macie to bed and walked into Ivie's room, I told her that it was dinosaur time.

And I'll probably never forget what happened in the next 15 minutes. It was the polar opposite of what I was expecting. She excitedly walked over to her chair, saying, "Can I do it by myself, Mommy?!?". I said "Sure, of course!" and got her started, telling her that I'd be back in a few minutes to check on her.

As I folded laundry, I peeked in on her every few minutes for the next 10 (until the cycle was over). Each time, she was sitting calmly in her chair, holding the dinosaur to her face, and watching her movie. Such a big girl! And, to top it off, when I went in at the 10-minute mark and told her she was finished, she pulled the dinosaur away from her face and, as she reached to turn the machine off, stopped dead in her tracks. Looking at the dinosaur, and then at me, she said, "Mommy, I still see smoke! I better keep doing it!". And she thrust the mask back onto her face and resumed movie-watching position in her chair.

So the kid that HATED the dinosaur yesterday sat in her chair tonight and v-o-l-u-n-t-a-r-i-l-y kept the nebulizer treatment going for 15 minutes.

All because I let her do it by herself.

I'm wondering why it has taken me so long to figure out how I could take advantage of Little Miss Independent's preference of being in control (which she comes by honestly). Definitely a "DUH, Mommy" moment...