The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block 2-Book Bundle pdfdrive com

Twenty-two-month-old Alice loves to “blow her dad over”:
She puffs really hard on his chest … and he teeters … then
falls onto the couch while she howls with laughter.
I play the boob again and again when I do a toddler checkup. It usually
wins a child’s cooperation in minutes, or less (see story on
Green-Light
Behaviors:
).
I beg you to spend time learning this one. This goofy-sounding idea is
one of the most effective tools I know for increasing toddler cooperation
and diminishing tantrums.
What It Is:
The basic idea is to make your child feel

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smart/strong/fast/etc. by making yourself seem, well, like a bit of a
“boob.”
Best Used For:
All toddlers, dozens of times a day. Once you get the
knack, playing the boob will become your toddler’s all-time favorite
game. (Yours, too!)
How to Do It:
Here are just a few of the wacky ways to play the
boob:
• Be a baby. Pretend you want something your toddler has. Reach
out and whine like a baby saying, “Mine, mine … pleeease!” Let
her easily defy your pitiful request. One of my favorites is to say,
“Gimme five,” but then pretend to be afraid. Then I let the child
give me five. If she does it gently, I thank her for being so nice.
But if she whacks me hard, I hop around yelping in mock pain,
“Ow! Ow! Ow! You tricked me! You tricked me! You’re not fair.”
Then I blow hard on my hand to take away the sting. Kids howl
with delight and want to do it over and over.
• Be blind. Pretend to search for something that’s right next to
you. Say, “Book! Where is my book?” When your child giggles
and points to it, ham it up and exclaim, “Where? Where? I don’t
see it.” Then finally look where she’s pointing and say, “Yea! You
found it! You’re a good finder! Thank you.”
• Be a klutz. Ask your child to hand you something, but
“accidentally” drop it (over and over again), saying “Uh-oh! Uh-
oh!”
Before I examine a worried two-year-old, I always place a toy
right on the edge of the exam table so that it falls as soon as I let
go. As it drops I exclaim, “Noooo! Doooon’t fall!” I do this over
and over, each time pretending to be ever more careful in
putting it down. I “command” the toy (or plead with it),
“Pleeease don’t fall!” Of course, when I let go it always falls
again.
Pretty soon, the child relaxes and looks quizzically at his mom,

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wondering Is this the guy you meant to take me to, Mom? Because I
can do the thing he’s bumbling with. Usually the child laughs and
wants to play with me because he sees I’m such a boob he doesn’t
need to be afraid.
• Be confused. Put your shoe on your hand or wear your hat
upside down. Announce that you need to see if your child’s
hands are clean … but inspect her foot instead. Then protest,
“Hey! You’re tricking me! That’s not your hand!” Now demand,
“Give me your hand!” But look in her pocket.
• Be forgetful. Ask your child: “Do you want your green pants or
the blue ones?” After he says “green,” immediately act like you
forgot, “Huh? What? Did you say the blue ones?”
Point at your child’s foot and fumble for the word. Say, “Give me
your … ummm … your … uh.” Frown as if you just can’t
remember the word “foot.” Keep fumbling and pointing. In
seconds, your toddler will lift up his foot and gleefully finish
your sentence, “Foot, FOOT!”
• Be pompously incorrect. Loudly sing the wrong lyrics to a
song, “Happy elephant to you!” “Happy elephant to you!” Your
child will love to correct you … but act like you’re sure you’re
right. (“No, those are the right words!”) Or like she didn’t hear
you correctly, “No way! I didn’t say elephant … I said birthday.”
Then sing the song with the wrong word again and if she corrects
you again, pompously proclaim, “No way! I’m the best
singer … IN THE WORLD!!!”
• Be a pushover. Ask your child to do something you know he
won’t want to do … and let him win. Point to the shoes on his
feet and say, “Give me your shoes, pleeease! I want shoes!”
When he refuses, “beg” him, “Please! Pleeease!” Then, when he
refuses again (with a mile-wide grin) throw down your hands
and whine, “Okay, okay … you win! You always win! You win
me a hundred times!! You never do what I want!”