Today I made a mistake. Let me explain. I really like drinking hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows (that's not the mistake, although it is probably A mistake...after "the holidays" I need to give it up, because otherwise I'm going to blow up like a blimp). Anyway, I was making myself some hot chocolate this morning, and Sydney had just finished her raisins (I served them to her in a little Tupperware bowl rather than the raisin box). Because I was feeling generous and Sydney was acting sweet, I gave her 10 marshmallows (don't worry, they're the very smallest ones; I'm not crazy enough to give her 10 giant marshmallows) in the bowl. This was my mistake (well, the first of many in a series). She was really happy. She's had marshmallows before, but not in quite a while, so this was definitely a treat for her. After she was finished (approximately 7 seconds after I handed them to her), she demanded "more!". I was anticipating this, so I calmly explained they were all gone. This usually works. Then she spotted the gigantic bag of marshmallows on the counter behind me. Oops. She didn't really say anything, but definitely gave me a doubtful look and a semi-stink eye.
Mistake #1: Giving Sydney 10 marshmallows.
Mistake #2: Not putting the bag of marshmallows back in the pantry before telling Sydney they were "all gone".
Mistake #3: I set my cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows on the end table next to the recliner. It was time to feed Lorelei, so I needed to sit there. Sydney knew Mommy's coffee (pronounced "cobby") was in the cup, but the mound of marshmallows must have been so high that she spotted one. She peered into the cup, saw the marshmallows, and demanded "more!". I told her "No, those are Mommy's". This usually works too, but not this time. She started to cry real tears.
***I'm back from a brief hiatus. As I was typing this, Sydney was handing me various stuffed animals. Her pig was wearing a onesie that she wanted me to remove. After I took it off I asked her, "Are you going to give your pig a bath?". Then she ran back to the living room. I thought she was going to get more stuffed animals for me to kiss, hold, and de-clothe, so I went back to typing. Then I realized how quiet it was, and heard footsteps upstairs. Sheesh! I had forgotten to put up the gate to block the stairs. Sydney climbs the stairs by herself quite well, but we don't let her do it alone. But she doesn't know that, and naturally headed upstairs as soon as I mentioned bathing her pig. I don't give the girl enough credit. Don't worry, the gate is up now and she is using Lorelei's little tub to "bathe" her pig.***
Mistake #4: "Okay, Sydney, you can have ONE MORE". Sydney was happy. She thought the marshmallows were called "one more", so she requested "one more". I said, "No, Sydney, you already had one more". Then my phone rang. It was TRICARE calling to conduct a survey about my hospital stay when Lorelei was born. I HAD to take the call, because yesterday I told them I could DEFINITELY talk at 10 a.m. today, and they had already called four or five times before. They SAY that you can decline participating in the survey and that it won't affect your medical care...but they say it so quickly and so under-their-breaths-like that I don't believe them and am not willing to risk declining the survey. I think the joke ended up being on them though, because Sydney continued to shriek "ONE MORE!" in the background and Lorelei would cry sporadically in my arms.
Mistake #5: I continued to give Sydney "one more" marshmallow in order to keep her as quiet as possible during the survey. She cried real tears every time I tried to refuse by shaking my head "no", and I couldn't resist.
Summary: Don't give a toddler marshmallows out of the kindness of your heart, lie to her that they're all gone before putting them out of sight, put your own cup with a mound of marshmallows right next to her, and then consent to "one more."
