My Son, The Negotiator

Yesterday I desperately tried to get Parker to clean up his room. He is pretty good about putting stuff away around the house, but it's usually a fight to get him to clean up his room. So, when I went into his room for the third time, I was puzzled to find him standing in the middle of the mess staring off into the distance.

This picture is after our conversation below...

Here is how our conversation went:

Mom: "Parker, I am not going to ask you again. You need to get all of your toys picked up and put everything away. You can not come out of your room until you get it cleaned up." (I know, I am so mean)

Parker: "Mom, how about you pick up the toys and put them in the toybox, you pick up my train and then you pick up my books and put them on the bookshelf-- AND I WILL WATCH YOU."

I could not help but to laugh. In the time that he took to tell me what I should be doing, he could have had his room cleaned already. How is it that a 2 year old, already knows how to scheme, negotiate and bargain? It's like when he asks us for a treat... if we tell him not right now or after dinner, he always then asks us if he can just hold the treat. He inevitably ends up holding it in his mouth. I think we fell for that one once but everyday he still tries it. What a character!

He did finally clean up his room and it took him about 3 minutes!