The Crying Game

In recent months Genevieve has become, for lack of a better term, whinier. She wants to be carried around all day and can be a demanding little tyrant. At first we thought this was because we had traumatized her. First we moved, then we went on vacation, then she started school; maybe it was too much for our little girl. We tried to appease her at first but when it kept getting worse we realized we had to do something. So, we let her cry. She would cry for over an hour until we (well, usually I) would give in. If she was crying that long surely she was very upset and needed comforting, right? But she kept getting worse. We finally took her to the doctor to see if they could fix her when we found out that she had an ear infection. See the Just What the Doctor Ordered post for more details on that.

After Genevieve had finished with her antibiotics she still remained a cranky little tyrant. We were still feeling pretty guilty about thinking she was a demanding dictator instead of realizing that she was sick, so I took her back to the doctor. This time there was no ear infection. This time I just got some interesting advice. Seems Genevieve has entered the terrible two's a little ahead of schedule. She is not traumatized by all of the activity in her life but has more than likely used it to take advantage of her poor parents. Supposedly this is very common and not just a trick of Genevieve's budding-genius mind which leads me to the conclusion that all children are evil.

So she isn't crying because she is sick or traumatized. Great. Now what? Is it really necessary to let her cry for over an hour without doing something? Yes, apparently it is. She has learned that if she holds out long enough that she will eventually get her way, and she is more than willing to be very patient in this regard. Even with our good intentions we have trained her to do this. So now she can cry for an hour, two hours, three or more and we are to ignore her. When she falls on the floor kicking and screaming, we are to ignore her. When she sticks her fingers down her throat and makes herself puke all over your newly cleaned floors, we are to ignore her. When she beats her head against the wall until she finally knocks herself out, we are to probably call an ambulance and make sure no real damage was done. But if not, we are to ignore her. Thankfully we have yet to experience the last two scenarios, but hey, the night is young.

So far I am seeing some improvement in Genevieve's behavior. It will now become a test of wills to see who can hold out the longest. Barring any unforeseen ear infections, I think I am up for the fight. May the most stubborn one win.