The Fine Art of Negotiation

Just got the boys in bed and I need to share this before I get into something else and I forget.

Daniel has been sleeping in our bed all week while I was in Germany for work.  Christine let him sleep in our bed with me last night too.  Partly because he really wanted to and partly because, I assume, she didn't want to sleep with me knowing that since I'd been up for nearly 24 hours I was bound to be snoring so loud she wouldn't get any sleep anyway.

Tonight was supposed to be back to normal.  Foolishly I thought I could make that happen.  When  it came for bed-time, though, James went to Daniel's room (the blue one, since room ownership changes around here) and Daniel snuggled under the sheets in our bed.  James was very,  very upset about this because he didn't want to sleep alone.  I offered to let him sleep in our bed with Daniel, but he was insistent that he wanted to sleep in the blue room with Daniel.  So I offered to negotiate for him.

I went back into our room and turned on the light.  I explained to Daniel that James was sleeping in the blue room and he wanted Daniel there as well.  Daniel was firm, "No, Daddy, I just want to sleep in here with you and mama."  I though I saw a path to success here.  I said, "well, I don't think mama is going to sleep in here tonight, I think she's going to have to sleep in some other bed tonight."  Knowing full well that with me and Daniel in the same bed there would be no safe space for Christine even in the room let alone a puny king-sized bed.

Daniel considered this for a moment then said, "no, I just have to sleep in here because if I sleep in the blue room it'll be stormy."

We are now firmly  in the phase with Daniel where he understands if-then relationships and reasons, but he hasn't reached the point where he can come up with rational or logical connections between A and B.  It's adorable, but incredibly frustrating, too, because it feels like he can be reasoned with, but he still can't be, because he doesn't really get the whole if-then-else thing.  It'll come.

Anyway, he and I went back and forth a few more times before I resigned myself to the current state of affairs.  I went back to James and gave him the bad news, that Daniel wasn't going to sleep in the blue room with him tonight.  He was still upset, but then I offered to put new batteries in the moon light for him so he'd have something cool to look at in there and maybe not be so sad.  He agreed and so downstairs I went to get new batteries.

When I came back upstairs with the now-glowing moon light, there was James coming out of our bedroom.  "I just went to talk to Daniel," he said before disappearing back inside the blue room and climbing up into a bed.  A moment later Daniel was following him.  "Daddy?  I'm going to sleep in the yellow room with James and I will take all my stuffies."

Well okay then.  I'm  literally speechless for a moment as I try to comprehend what just happened here while my back was turned.  I dutifully helped Daniel carry the armload of stuffies back into his room and loaded him up into the other bed.  When I finally managed to get my brain back into gear, I turned to James and said, "I don't know what you said to Daniel, buddy, but good work."

Then this happened.

James:  I told him two things and he chose both of them.  One:  I said I would be his best friend.  And two:  I told him I would give him a cat.  A real one.

And just like that I again lost the power of speech.

Damnit.

Comments

  1. Unknown24 March 2018 at 20:54

    So what color cat? Lol
    What's it's name?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joe MacDonald25 March 2018 at 20:37

      It better be named "Scotch", be a rich amber colour and come in a box with eleven of its brothers and sisters if it shows up here.

      I've already lost this fight, it's just a matter of time now. ;-)

      Delete

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