When my daughter *really* cries...

[DaddyTimesTwo]

she runs into our bedroom and looks at herself in the full length mirror. She even turns to one side and the other to get a fuller view. She's three.

[China Guy]

priceless...I always tell my primma donna girl that hollywood is 5k miles away.

[The King of Soup]

That's funny. When my children were that age, having them look into a mirror was how I got them to stop crying (well, provided that there wasn't a more obvious remedy).

[DaddyTimesTwo]

The King of Soup, that's what I would have guessed, but, my girl is just soooo theatrical.

Lucky me.

[Guinastasia]

Your daughter sounds really cool. She must join the SD when she's old enough!

[The King of Soup]

DaddyTimesTwo: May I pontificate? (watches computer screen intently) Thanks!

I'm a dad of three children born inside a span of twelve and a half months. Welcome to the way-too-tired-and-guilt-ridden-because-of-it club. The mirror thing didn't work for long in the Soup Pot either, largely because after a certain stage of cognitive development the little wombats start to view it as a tool for whining Research and Development. Sounds like your daughter is experimenting with promising developments in the field. Good for her.

I don't know if it'll work for you but I will tell you my next move after the mirror stopped working. Essentially my strategy was to, through sheer weirdness, distract the little so-and-so's from their mission. I'd say, for example, "Oh! You're sad? Time to make toast!" Or, "Better make some soap bubbles!(this was especially handy when we had dirty dishes in the sink) Or, "What color are you sad? Red? We'd better draw a bright red picture right now!" Distraction (again, of course, if there isn't an immediate, obvious remedy) usually works. It does have the disadvantage of innoculating your child to, and making them very good at, non-sequitur weirdness

[SpoilerVirgin]

I'm a lot older than three, and I still look at myself in the mirror when I cry. I do it because I find it comforting to see that even with all of the pain I'm feeling, I still look pretty normal. It's usually hard for me to cry for very long once I see that I'm still just me.

TMI?

[picunurse]

Originally Posted by DaddyTimesTwo

she runs into our bedroom and looks at herself in the full length mirror. She even turns to one side and the other to get a fuller view. She's three.

My son at 3, seemed to be more of a "radio star" His "crying consisted of, "I'm cryin'... I'm cryin' in here... I'm really really cryin' in here... Can't anybody hear, I'm cryin' here?