When she grows up I’m convinced Maya will be some sort of expert negotiator.  She’ll be called on to negotiate the most complex and difficult agreements.  You see my little 2 and half year old has already discovered the art of a the perfect negotiation.  She has mastered negotiating skills that even some adults haven’t yet figured out.  Come to my house at any nap time or bedtime and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

From a very young age, we’re talking before she could even really form the words, Maya learned how to negotiate for more time.  Through reading many parenting books I learned that transitions go a lot smoother when you give your child warns, saying things like “It is time to get ready for bed in 5 more minutes” or “You have 2 more minutes to play at the park”, etc.  So, I began using these little tricks with Maya at a very young age, and often I would hold up my fingers to indicate how many minutes I was talking about.

Maya, the smarty pants that she is, picked up on that and when I would say “Okay, Maya it’s time to get ready for bed” she would start holding up her hand showing me that she wanted 5 more minutes, keep in mind she was barely over a year when she started doing this.  Eventually, as she gained more words, she started saying “five” while holding up her hand, and then eventually “five (or two or one) minute”.  It was adorable and she was smart, she knew that there was no way I could resist such cuteness and I would inevitably agree to her request for more time.

As time went on her technique has changed.  She started to realize she could change the amount of time she asked for.  She would start with 5 more minutes, then ask for 1 more minute and eventually 30 more seconds.  The first time she asked for 30 more seconds I about fell over.  Here was this little 2 year old, sassy pants, requesting 30 more seconds to play before she got ready for bed.   The request for 30 more seconds is the one that has stuck.  If I tell her it is time for anything, bed, bath, time to leave the park, etc, she will always ask for 30 more seconds.

I know all about her little trick now so I begin my negotiation earlier than I would if I knew she wasn’t going to ask for more time.  I’m sure she’ll figure out that I’m on to her and will change up her technique.  Afterall, I’m dealing with an expert negotiator