Playing the Big Girl Card

Manipulation can be a beautiful thing.  Especially when it's cloaked in a clever veil of empowerment and pride in accomplishment, two things very close to the minds and hearts of preschoolers everywhere.  Are you a big girl, or a baby? we ask.  Samantha has learned that "big girl" is the correct answer befitting such a self-sufficient young lady.  She saves the answer, baby, for moments of silliness or just to be stubborn.  For all the times she insists on doing things herself, or trying to do things herself, she hears our beaming praise, What a big girl you are!!  And she is proud.  And in her own pride, she has made mommy's and daddy's hearts swell to bursting.

We're using those exact moments as positive reinforcement.  We're playing the big girl card, and hope that it continues to wield the power we've discovered it holds.  Samantha, big girls eat their green beans/Samantha, be a big girl and brush your teeth by yourself/Samantha, I know you want mommy to carry you, but big girls walk upstairs by themselves...  And the list goes on.  But one of the big things we're working on with her is to stay dry at night or during naps while she's sleeping.  And we're trying the big girl approach.  Amazingly, with some success. 

Before bed the other night, I stressed that she needed to be a big girl and try to stay dry during the night, that if she needed to use the potty, all she had to do was call me and I'd come get her.  And at 2am, that's exactly what she did.  It hasn't been consistent, and it certainly hasn't always worked, but I'm heartened by the efforts she's made, both at night and at naptime.  Do I think this approach is foolproof?  No way.  But I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and will continue to employ it until we've shown our hand and worn out our welcome.