I told him that I would read him one book, so he picked out Make Way for Ducklings. He cuddled with me throughout the whole thing, but when I finished the story and put the book away, he sprang to life and asked me to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Being the mean mom that I am, I said no.
Immediately, his whole face screwed up and he burst out with the saddest sob I've ever seen. Unless he is getting much better at manipulating me, I think he was just really sad to not get to read the Grinch rather than not getting his way or stalling. I didn't want to end our great night on a bad note, so I said, "Timmy, you want Mommy to read the Grinch?"
He said "Please!" I smiled and said, "Ok, but this is really the last book tonight."
He smiled back at me and said "Thank you!"
He then proceeded to snuggle up to me, and when I said, "the end" he immediately put his head down on the bed and sighed contentedly.
The unprompted "please" and "thank you" (and in the context of something other than asking for a snack) was a first and it made my heart melt. He's always been a sweetheart, but when he shows that he understands why we say certain things and what effect those words have on people, I feel like I'm doing ok in preparing him for the world. Like when he said "I love you" out of nowhere and leaned over to give me a kiss. I can't get enough of that little gentleman.
5 comments:
I back down on requests like that too- when they come from a genuine desire to hear more and he asks nicely? No problem. And I love nighttime snuggly book reading; it's one of my favorite parts of our day and it's something I remember so clearly doing with my parents when I was little.
Yeah, I cave on stuff like that too. And who can deny a child wanting to be read to? Someday she'll kick me out of the room because she's burrowed under the covers with a flashlight, and I won't get to read it too!
I'm with the chorus on this one. I try very hard to stick to rules that I set (so I set them very carefully), but there are times when I can tell that being flexible is more important than being utterly consistent. And really, if you're going to break the rules, break 'em for literacy and lovin', I always say.
Not me. I'm so exhausted at the end of the day that I only break the 2 books at bedtime rule when we've agreed in advance (and I only agree when we're running a few minutes early), never when the 2 books are done and he asks for one more. I know that will lead to him asking for more books the next day. I always say that in the morning I'll read him as many books as he wants.
That picture is so adorable.
These are the sorts of stories that make me think I can't wait to have kids. What a cutie, it sounds like you've done a wonderful job of raising him!
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