Monday, May 24, 2010

The New Dining Rules

I had the most uncomfortable experience yesterday. My daughter has two sides to her, the stay at home side and  what I call her public image.

At home she expects every family member to run circles around her and obey all her commands (this works with her dad and my parents, not me), does funny stuff to make me laugh or sings at the top of her little voice and asks us to clap after she finishes an act or song, insists on dressing herself and cleaning up her own messes (doubling my work) and generally looks down on those who don't do the 'I'm not worthy' thing every few hours.

Her 'public image' is completely different. By public I mean when the majority of people fall in the stranger or not too familiar category. She speaks softly, sticks close to the nearest family member, drinks soup without spills (don't know how she accomplishes that), politely asks us to get her what she needs (this includes checking if she can use the toilet or needs to go in her pull-ups) and let's us put on a bib for her. So, obviously when we went out for a big family dinner last night I was sure of having a smooth and enjoyable evening.

The evening started with her insisting that she wanted to eat with chopsticks. On being presented with a set, she very politely handed one back to waiter and proceeded to eat her noodles with one chopstick. The waiter looked at me (who by the way was using both her chopsticks) with a raised eyebrow and all I could do was smile sheepishly. Next she asked for a glass of watermelon juice and was told that they had fresh orange, grape and sweet lime juices. She smiled sweetly and asked if they could get her some watermelon pieces please. When the plate of freshly cut watermelon arrived, she took her water glass, and proceeded to squeeze the juice out of the pieces into the glass. I asked her to stop immediately and was told that she was teaching the nice man to make watermelon juice! Finally when I was busy having a conversation with my sister-in-law, the waiter informed me that my daughter was throwing her food on the floor. I turned to her in shock, only to be told that she was clearing her plate just like I had asked her too! The princess was sent to watch the fountain in the hotel lobby with her cousins, while we adults finished our meal. Hope she didn't think I was rewarding her behaviour, it was more a case of getting her out of sight of the hyperventilating staff

Someone please remind me to think before I give instructions to a two-year old. They 'literally' take you at face value. Or is this just my little girl? And I couldn't even scold her for being naughty, since I have told her that if she understands why she's doing something and I understand it as well, we will only discuss how we can do better. Oh! the trials of modern, rational parenting.

12 comments:

  1. Your daughter is hilarious. Love it.

    Happy SITS Saturday Sharefest.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by.........I enjoyed writing about the incident a lot more than actually being there

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  3. Eh? You'll only discuss it? All of a sudden I'm glad I'm doing oldfashioned irrational parenting - scolding is still allowed. ;-)

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  4. Hehe.....that's only when I'll end up contradicting myself......at other times scolding and occasional raised voices do happen :-p...our generation was a lot dumber

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  5. Ohhhh, she's a smart one. You've got your work cut out for you, hon! Love the watermelon juice. She's so considerate to teach the waiter!

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  6. Hi Tracey, thanks for visiting.
    I just wish the waiter saw it that way. Don't know if we'll be welcomed back there. Sadly, it's the best Thai place in town :-(

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  7. Sooo funny. You definitely are going to have your hands full with the little princess. At least she's keeping you on your toes right? Lol. Visiting from SITS! Have a great weekend!

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  8. They only get more manipulative as they get older! My oldest is almost 4 and she's starting the reverse tactics on me. If I don't answer her the way she likes, she flips and wants the EXACT opposite of what she just said. Or she will only hear selectively what you are saying (ie not hear the word "no" and assume she has permission) Or she will interrupt you if she knows you are saying "no" to try and argue her point...It is incredibly frustrating.

    Sounds like you have the start of a real DIVA personality :) Good luck to you!

    Visiting from SITS

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  9. Thanks for visiting Tracey. Am just going over to check out your blog. Yup! the little one is a handful.

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  10. Hi Carrie, thanks for stopping by.
    Omg! you mean it gets worse! I thought we got a break from when they turned 3 till the time they hit their teens. Will use this advance warning to plan my strategy.

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  11. Hi there, welcome to the blog world. Welcome to SITS! I wanted to come by and let you know I've read your blog and think it's fun. I like your slogan. Mama with two kids in diapers here, it's a lot of fun. Blogging is my 'me' 'free' time. LOL Happy Saturday SITS sharefest and cheers to blogging!

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  12. Two in diapers? How is the potty training going? And I was obsessing about getting one trained. Good luck to you.

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I love hearing from all of you....thanks for letting me know what you think