Strategic fussing

Early in her life, Margaret fussed for three main reasons: (1) she was hungry; (2) she was tired; (3) she wanted attention in a very general sense. But now, we've hit a point where Maggie has become what I would call "strategic" in her fussing. That's perhaps a bit too advanced as a description of her motives, but at least she's started fussing when she clearly recognizes that someone is thwarting her and, darnit, she doesn't like it! I don't like that Dad is putting me in my stroller == SCREAM! I don't like that Dad took away that toy == SCREAM! I don't like that Mom walked out of the room == SCREAM!! This is all weighing upon the people at daycare since our previously angelic Maggie-Moo, while not the worst fusser at the center, has certainly become less amenable than she was in the past.

The primary effect of this change has been to introduce the following calculation into our interaction with Margaret - at what point does one give into her fussing perhaps with the side effect of encouraging such fussing in the future versus the decision not to give in with the result being a major meltdown? Perhaps the best example was at brunch with the GE grandparents last weekend. While feeding her some applesauce, I made the mistake of dropping a bit of doughnut that the restaurant served in front of her. At which point it was all over - doughnuts were the preferred food for the day. Any attempt to reintroduce applesauce was met with a howl. And a scarcity of doughnuts was received in a similar fashion. Now, I don't think that my kid should be exclusively eating doughnuts during brunch, but do I want her to scream in a public restaurant? In the end, she stuffed herself with doughnuts which I'm sure reflects the common outcome of many future battles.