Distraction: The "Delicate" Art Of Child-Rearing, Part Deux

(Why is "Part Two" always in French??)

I did a wonderful thing tonight.  My wife left with my son to head off to their weekly piano lessons, leaving me with my daughter.  Oh how fun our few hours together began as she was crying just horribly with the mandatory "Mommy Mommy Mommy ..." tumbling out of her mouth.  Tears were everywhere.  Oh how terrible ... blah blah blah ...

So I did what I do best --- thinking on my feet and comforting her.  Hee hee ... I just have to laugh at having written that ...

In reality, I ended up with yet another follow-on to my (hopefully) endless list (I have three now!!!) of how to distract my kids, making them forget that they are upset and think that they are forever happy until the next big terrible event occurs.

I looked at Li'l A, tears and all, and asked her if she wanted to sit on my lap.  She said "waahsobsnifflewaaaahh yes".  So I plopped her gently on my lap [step 1].  Laura had told me that she thunk Li'l A had a cold or something, so I diligently asked Li'l A if anything hurt.  She said "waahhhhsobsnifflesob yes" [step 2].  I asked her what hurt, and she pointed to the top of her head and said "snifflesobsnifflewaaaaahhh here".

Then I got creative.  I pointed to the top of her head and asked "Is this what hurts?"  "sobsniffleslurp yes" she said.  Then I asked "What else hurts?  How about this knee?", pointing to her knee.  "waahsnifflesnorp no."  "And how about this knee?", pointing to her other knee.  "waahsnifflesnorpsnorp no."  And pointing to my own knee: "What about this ... WAIT!!!  That's just silly!!" [step 3]

"And how about this arm?"  "no sobsnifflewaaahsnorp".  "And this arm?"  "snifflesnorpwaahwaahsnorp no".  And again pointing to my arm: "And what about this ... WAIT!!!  That's just silly!!" [step 4]

By now Li'l A, three years old though she may be, was starting to pick up on this wackiness.

"And does this shoulder hurt?"  "snifflesnort no".  "And your other shoulder?"  "no snifflesniffle".  And then the silly part ... And on we went until just about a minute or so later she was giggling and happy and just the opposite of what she had been only two minutes earlier, a typical three year old wreck whose mommy had just stepped out the front door.  Oh the horror!!!