Reminder Reminder

Lately, Lily has been taking forever to finish her meals. Well, all except breakfast, starvation wins out there. But it is like pulling teeth to get her to eat any meal completely under 45 minutes. That is if I am not sitting with her, serving her each bite. So, I asked around to a couple of ladies and received some great advice. I decided to give the "meal-timer" approach a whirl. I place a simple egg timer on the kitchen table set for 20 minutes. That is the amount of time Lily has to sit in her seat and eat her food.

This all by way of background (a little nod to Zimmer), today at the lunch table Lily wanted to explore a few reminder evasion tactics on me. Her first attempt produced a Lily Girl with a blanket tied around her waist. She declared at the beginning of our meal,

"Momma, you can't give me a spanking, I hid my bottom from you and you can't find it!"

Well, I cleared up that matter rather quickly. Noting that her bottom is soundly attatched to her person, and therefore very easy to find. She aborted that mission and I could see the wheels turning in her brain.

"Momma, " she said, "Why do you give me reminders that hurt?"

Thinking.

"Well, because the pain helps you remember not to disobey next time. If reminders felt good, they wouldn't work." Patting myself on the back for being so clever and succinct.

"Momma, I like reminders. I like them a lot. Actually, do you know what kind I like the best?"

This is a trap. I know it. But I still ask. "Which kind?"

"I like the kind I give to myself. Those are the best kind."

Well played, chickadee. I nodded and smiled. I will let her have her little moment of victory. As the timer clicked away and the buzzer sounded, we once again took our trip to the bathroom for a little reminder action, Momma-style.