It's Mommy Time

One Mommy, Two Daughters, Zero Time

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Barter System

No one ever told me that I would have to learn a new currency system when I had a toddler, but so it is. Toddlers, as you may know, have their own special sense of “mine,” whether or not they can actually say the word. Once Hailey gets her little fingers around an item of “value,” she evokes her super-powered death grip, and it’s nearly impossible to get it away from her. Unless, that is, you can offer to trade her for an item of even greater value. I’ve been honing my bargaining skills with her for the past few weeks. Just to give you an example, yesterday morning, she was running around the house with a pen. I decided that maybe that’s not such a good idea so I tried to trade her for a spoon. Ha, ha, clearly not good enough. Let’s try again, but this time with a hair brush…bingo!!! A hairbrush apparently has a greater value than a pen. So, Hailey held out the pen to me and then quietly placed it on the ground in front of her as if she were dropping a deadly weapon. Then, she promptly snatched up the hairbrush with her death grip.


Now, as with any currency, there are some items that have the highest of all values. Let’s call them the diamonds of the toddler world. What items are those? Keys (only Mommy’s keys that she uses, not any plastic or other substitute), cell phones (only if it’s on and functioning), and remote controls (only the ones that actually control the electronics, and they must have batteries). That is what I’ve learned of the toddler barter system so far. If anyone else has any high value items that I might use in my future negotiations, please let me know.

3 Comments:

  • At 9:05 AM , Anonymous katie said...

    I bought Corbin a grown up tooth brush that looks just like ours in order to avoid the twice a day temper tantrums when it came to brushing his teeth. The idea was that he could play with his very own grown up brush while we brushed our teeth and then I would brush his teeth with his kid brush afterward. It worked for two days and then he decided he wanted Daddy's green one and not his blue one, because if Daddy had green then green must be cooler than blue. My point is...just when you think you've got a handle on the barter system...she'll probably change the rules on you!

     
  • At 10:31 AM , Anonymous peter said...

    Just make sure you never give in to the most valuable of all barter items: candy!

    On the other hand, colorful books sometimes work!

     
  • At 12:24 PM , Anonymous Grandma Nanna said...

    I just have to say how it makes my day when there are new Mommy Messages several days in a row! But enough about me. As for this "new currency" and its latest expert practitioner:

    For the many toddlers who have come to visit over the years, I have always kept a secret, hidden, box of "diversions". I am now inspired to create a care package for you guys for the same purpose.

    In it you will find items that are not toys, but real-life items that seem to fascinate the under-5 set. Included will be an old purse Hailey can drag around and put stuff in. Shiny plastic caps from hair spray bottles, etc., that she can stack and fit into one another - also washed-out cosmetic tubs that are delightful for screwing caps off, screwing caps on....

    Then there's the tactile delight of old make-up or paint brushes (cleaned), as well as a lint roller that her little fingers can stick to. Then, cheap,colorful small cardboard boxes she can take the lids off of and stuff with treasures, as well as anything else I can find that won't fit up her nose, in her ears or down her throat. Oh, and what about just handing her a trimmed, fat stalk of celery to run around with? After she swabs the floor with it and puts it in her mouth- just think of all the anitbodies she'll produce!

     

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