Teaching A Toddler The Art Of Waiting

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Toddlers hate waiting. They don’t understand the concept. Last weekend, at Maplewood Farm, I was posed with the mighty task of teaching Tiana the art of waiting.
Our first visit to the farm called for another edition of “Sour & Sweet”.

Sour
I was thrilled about the idea of Tiana watching a cow being milked.  She’d get to see for herself that her favourite beverage comes from a “moo”!

Well, unfortunately for me, prior to the milking was the long history/biology of the cow. (Sidenote: cows get four stomachs. Humans got jipped!)

Needless to say, Tiana lost interest in the first 30 seconds. All this cow talk was just taking away from her time with the cuddly bunnies. So, naturally, she insisted on lunging her body out of my arms and towards the barn exit. Protesting loudly.

“MILK THE DAMN COW”, I yelled. Good thing the farmer couldn’t hear the voice in my head.

In the midst of this tug of war between Tiana and I, I realized I had to turn this into a game.

How to play the waiting game
1) Give her all your attention…make sure you don’t get distracted by the cow in the room.
2) Pull her attention elsewhere (hint: shiny or colourful usually works well.)
3) Play interactive games (ex. “name that colour”)

Before I knew it, the farmer was a milking. VICTORY!

Sweet
1. After intently observing two lovebunnies smooching, Tiana ran around offering kisses to all who would take them.
2. She loved the rooster…until he crowed in her face. She gave him a piece of her mind. That’ll teach him to crow somewhere else.
3. She was happy to meet Mary’s little lamb and  all of Old Macdonald’s farm familia. She sang those songs all afternoon.

Good times.

What are your tips and tricks for getting your toddler to sit tight?

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