# Lies about toddler-wrangling **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028 "2012-10-07T23:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/81 "2012-10-10T17:06:32Z")
Another myth: this French parenting thing about regimented mealtimes and no other snacks. Totally would not work with my girl, who struggles to keep her weight up anyhow. You know what? If she asks for sheer-yos (Cheerios) she gets some sheer-yos. HEY ZJESTIKA ARE YOU STILL READING? I gave up on the regimented mealtimes. This morning we were at our wits end by 10:30. I’d gotten her into her highchair with sheer-yos, but it was just way too early for the lunch-diaper-nap cycle to start. “Let’s make sugar cookies!” I thought. “A brilliant way to kill an hour!” I thought. I got out my cookbook, gave her spoons and cups to play with, and got all Betty Crocker on the kitchen. Then I got to the part where you have to let the dough rest for three hours or it won’t be workable. AAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/82 "2012-10-10T19:20:08Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Another myth: this French parenting thing about regimented mealtimes and no other snacks. Wow. Did that fall through a time warp from 1942? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/83 "2012-10-10T20:06:31Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Wow. Did that fall through a time warp from 1942? It’s really a quite hilarious book about how French children amuse themselves and wait patiently for meals while their mothers have a wine-soaked brunch a couple of blocks away. (Note:this review is based on the excerpts my wife read me, may not actually be true) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/84 "2012-10-11T16:28:55Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > My experience with packs of toddlers is that if you put a cap in the ass of the alpha toddler the rest fall into line. So simple, yet so…profound!😉 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/85 "2012-10-12T00:28:48Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > I do it with my kids. At least their shirts. I don’t put them to bed in jeans. > Kids are fun and adorable and interesting and also damn creepy. My four-year-old was telling me about how much he loved his brand new twin baby sisters, and how he was going to take care of them, and then wanted to know what would happen if their eyes fell out. > > I love him, I do, but there’s a good reason he thinks ‘Little Weirdo’ is a term of affection. My brother in law was dating a woman that had a toddler for a while, that girl I nicknamed The Brain because she was clearly constantly plotting world domination. Once she said to my mother in law she hated her mother and my BIL, she said her real dad had a gun (he was in the army) so she was going to steal it and shoot her mom and my BIL til they were dead. My MIL told her WHOA do not talk about killing my son, you don’t say those kinds of things! So she replied ok ok I won’t shoot him, but I’m still going to kill mommy. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/86 "2012-10-12T00:42:41Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I have absolutely no idea what I’ll do if I ever get to five. Seriously. I say, “NOW I AM ANGRY.” I have learned that me being angry is worse than just about any other punishment I can mete out. Sometimes it is just that simple. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/87 "2012-10-12T02:13:40Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I say, “NOW I AM ANGRY.” > > I have learned that me being angry is worse than just about any other punishment I can mete out. Sometimes it is just that simple. My line was “Child, I have absolutely no idea what I will do when I get to 3. _Lets not find out_” :eek: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/88 "2012-10-12T02:14:16Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I have absolutely no idea what I’ll do if I ever get to five. Seriously. I only count to three, but I talk more in between, so it’s probably the same. This made me think, I don’t remember how long it’s been since I got to 3 with my daughter. At 2, it’s game over and she caves. The funny thing is that we started this when she was two, and the serious consequences was only that Daddy put the shirt on for her, despite her crying and struggling. I think it does help to save the 1, 2, 3 and not use it daily. ETA: My mother’s 3 was “the wooden spoon.” That hurt and we didn’t get to 3 very many times. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/89 "2012-10-12T13:03:03Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > For the folks trying to force kids to eat something they don’t want to, just let me tell you that saving that bowl of Cheerios for lunch because your 5 year old won’t eat them for breakfast won’t work. Hehehehe. I used to be a picky eater until the Great Food Robbery Mom: Eat your food Me: No! Dad: \ Mom: Eat your food or there will be trouble Me: Don’t wanna!!! Mom: Eat your food or you are not leaving the table! Dad: \ Me: Hate this food. Never eating it EVER!! Mom: I’m warning you, young man! Dad: \ Me: Hey! What?!?! Mom: :dubious: Dad: \ Me: 😕:mad: Mom:We’re done. Next meal in three hours. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/90 "2012-10-12T13:29:12Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > Kids are fun and adorable and interesting and also damn creepy. My four-year-old was telling me about how much he loved his brand new twin baby sisters, and how he was going to take care of them, and then wanted to know what would happen if their eyes fell out. My friend’s eldest daughter had just got her first set of glasses and was running round looking very adorable in them. I started off a conversation along the lines of “Are you helping your daddy look after the new twins?” and she started telling me how she and mummy and daddy all loved the new babies and how she was going to look after them and take care of them and while she was around anyone bothering them would get stabbed through the heart. With a sword. Ooooookay. Perhaps Almira may grow up to become a very a protective mother. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/91 "2012-10-12T14:29:00Z")
> [@Ludy](#): > > When I give my three year old a choice between two shirts I get a tantrum. If I tell her to go into her room and pick out clothes, I get a happy girl in a some what creative outfit. > > Last night we had Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian) and I put a bit of things I thought she would like on her plate. She ignored the scalloped potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. She ate the steamed carrots and broccoli. Not what I would choose, but hey, it’s her choice. I think that’s part of the trick right there – don’t be too worried about creative clothing (or diet, though there are health issues there) choices; the important thing is for the kid to make the choice. Conflicts around that are significantly lessened when the parents aren’t fretting or agonizin over the kid making the “wrong” choice. > [@Rysto](#): > > Enjoy the teenage years. > > And may God have mercy upon your soul. 🙂 Teenagers are easy, just remember they think they’re adults. If you think in terms of “oh, she has her own opinions, and she’s making her own choices, because she’s not me and has her own tastes and preferences” you’ll have a better outcome than “she’s rebelling against the duly constituted authority of her parents, time to crack down.” Some things are illegal or objectively harmful, of course, but beyond that different isn’t the same as wrong; the parents’ job is to provide a safety net. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/92 "2012-10-12T14:32:56Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Another myth: this French parenting thing about regimented mealtimes and no other snacks. Totally would not work with my girl, who struggles to keep her weight up anyhow. You know what? If she asks for sheer-yos (Cheerios) she gets some sheer-yos. HEY ZJESTIKA ARE YOU STILL READING? I gave up on the regimented mealtimes. > > This morning we were at our wits end by 10:30. I’d gotten her into her highchair with sheer-yos, but it was just way too early for the lunch-diaper-nap cycle to start. “Let’s make sugar cookies!” I thought. “A brilliant way to kill an hour!” I thought. I got out my cookbook, gave her spoons and cups to play with, and got all Betty Crocker on the kitchen. > > Then I got to the part where you have to let the dough rest for three hours or it won’t be workable. AAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH Roll soft sugar cookie dough into balls. Roll balls in colored sugar. Bake. They spread out and get pretty. No waiting! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/93 "2012-10-12T15:29:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Roll soft sugar cookie dough into balls. Roll balls in colored sugar. Bake. They spread out and get pretty. No waiting! In hindsight that woulda been the thing to do. Although, then we wouldn’t have kitty and star-shaped cookies now, and she wouldn’t meow and sing “wingle wingle a-a-arrrrr, hawa wanna a-a-arrrrr” as she eats them. And that’s totally worth it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028/94 "2012-10-12T15:31:29Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > In hindsight that woulda been the thing to do. Although, then we wouldn’t have kitty and star-shaped cookies now, and she wouldn’t meow and sing “wingle wingle a-a-arrrrr, hawa wanna a-a-arrrrr” as she eats them. And that’s totally worth it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-about-toddler-wrangling/637028.md?page=4)