Tricking a Toddler

the love of a girl and her stuffed animal

Toddlers. We all know they are too smart for their own good (or maybe just too smart for Mama's good). Yet, I still try to trick mine all the time. My favorite "trick" in our house that has been going on for the last year is the "puppy swap" that we tried to pull on Belle. Ever since she was 6 months old Belle has had a beloved stuffed puppy. We creatively named him "Puppy", and she adores that little pink and white guy. We realized very quickly that this loved little (mostly white) puppy was difficult to wash, because she always wanted to have him. Then one afternoon Mommy made the rookie mistake of allowing Puppy in the jogging stroller during a run, and when we got home he was no longer snuggled on Belle's lap. It took us 30 minutes to retrace our path (this time walking), but luckily we found Puppy lying by the side of the road, and we could all go to sleep happy that night. I knew we needed a backup puppy immediately, so I ordered a brand new identical Puppy.

She has always taken very good care of him.... he gets many bottles and diaper changes every day

I'm very lucky to have so many older sisters with children, and I get to learn so much from their experiences. One of my sisters bought my niece a backup lamb to be able to wash, and then my niece just wanted both of the Lambies. My SIL bought my nephew a backup blanket and then he wanted both blankets. I didn't want Belle to need both Puppies, and then I still wouldn't be able to wash them or lose one. I figured I would just make sure she never saw them both together, and I would sneakily pull the puppy swap whenever one needed washing. This sounds good in theory (like most parenting strategies).

Bug was in complete shock that she was allowed to touch Puppy

Unfortunately for me, kids are very smart. The very first time I pulled the swap and gave her the new mint-condition Puppy she noticed how white, fluffy, and soft it was. I tried to play it off by saying that it was just very clean! I thought I had her fooled as I swapped Puppies back and forth for months washing them and hiding the extra one on a top shelf in the laundry room. Then one day when I was doing laundry she brought me her Puppy and asked me to wash it, and then pointed up to the top shelf and said "I want the clean Puppy". Ha all my efforts at being so sneaky. That was months ago, and we are still playing the "puppy swap" game, except I don't try to hide it anymore. Now I just tell her that we are switching the Puppies, and she calls one of them her "very special Puppy" and one of them "Puppy" (again we are very creative in the Mik house). My smart little Belle.... I love that girl and her Puppy (or two).

Puppy is always just hanging out with us