Lydia is home alone. Everyone else is in school and she only has Mom and the dog to keep her company. For me this is a huge change. I am used to a small group of preschoolers running around. The up side is that she will watch the "princess movies" that her three older brothers shunned. They have been sitting around collecting dust since Emma started school 7 years ago.
Today is was Snow White. During the movie Lydia got hungry and asked for a snack. When I asked her what she wanted she thought for a moment, looked at the TV screen, saw the wicked queen lift the apple out of the vat of poison and gave the obvious answer "an apple". Wouldn't an apple dripping poison in the shape of a skull make everyone want one? She happily munched her snack through the rest of the movie. She didn't even pause when Snow White fell to the ground unconscious. I wondered how deeply she thought about things.
Deeper that I thought. A few moments later she announced the need to use the bathroom. Toilet training began last week with little interest or success. A bag of chocolate candy increased the interest and the success the last two days. After a successful trip to use the toilet and the promised reward/bribe, she waited a few minutes and decided that the candy was so good that she needed another and sitting on the toilet would get it for her. She sent he audience (me) away, waited a bit then announce that she was "all done". Of course this was all an act for my benefit and the acquisition of chocolate. When I called her on it she reluctantly relented to the fact that she hadn't truly earned another treat. Mom is not quite as easy to fool as she thought.
