First Documented Manipulation of a Babysitter

Last night we took Margot down to Baltimore with us so that we could go to a wedding. It was a fun wedding with lots of old friends from college, plus it was at the Baltimore Zoo and there were keepers walking around with penguins and owls and other kinds of screeching birds.

Margot didn't get to go to the wedding though. My friend Julie, also from college, stayed with her. (Sidenote: Margot's going to start thinking that the name 'Julie' means babysitter. Her babysitter in Philadelphia is named Julie, and Caillou's babysitter on TV is also named Julie.)

I was very concerned that Margot would be upset when I left for the wedding because she doesn't know this Julie. But she just said "Bye-bye Mommy, see you 'ater" (remember, she doesn't say any Ls yet and just drops then off) and ran off when it was time for me and Brodie to go, so that was a good thing.

When we got back, Julie reported that while Margot didn't eat much of anything for dinner (surprise, surprise - she looks like a filly with her long skinny legs) and they had a good time playing with the water fountain in the backyard. Also, Margot tried hard to convince Julie that she doesn't have to wear a Pull-Up at night when she sleeps. Luckily, Julie didn't buy it (thank goodness, that would have been another wet sheet disaster.)

But I realized: this was her first calculated manipulation of a babysitter. Or of anyone as far as I can tell. Margot certainly knows that she wears a Pull-Up at night when she goes to bed, and she's never minded it before. But something has developed in her brain that's saying, "Hey, Mom's not here, let's see what I can get away with!"

Look out Julies of the world - who knows what she'll come up with next.