Lily has an amazing imagination. I have always been impressed with the games, stories and routines she comes up with. She has the wonderful ability to entertain herself for hours at a time, and now I’ve found a fabulous little way to get this incredible imagination to benefit me. After all, benefiting me is what it’s all about.
Yesterday, I noticed shampoo still in her hair after her bath. Let’s play beauty shop, I suggested. I put her head in the sink and massaged her scalp. Normally, this would have been pure torture for both of us, but suddenly it was a game. We talked about her name (Princess Kabukah,) her plans later than night (a fancy dinner at Chic-fil -A,) her family (eleven kids and six dogs,) and her house (a purple castle.) Before she knew it, the shampoo was rinsed and I had brushed out her mass of tangles without a single bloodcurdling scream.
Every one of her alter egos come with a different name, mannerism and sense of style. The only thing they seem to have in common is a love of costume jewelry, midriff bearing tops and heels. When the house is a wreck, rather than beg Lily to help me (which would be met with eye rolls and and refusal,) I simply ask “Sophia” to assist me. Instantly, Lily transforms into an efficient little house cleaner, who not only does a stellar job, but requires no payment at all. And she does it with a smile on her face.
In our game of waitress, Lily willingly sets and clears the table and happily fetches me a Diet Coke. In the babysitter game, she plays with the boys, allowing them to do whatever they want without an ounce of sibling rivalry. The “folder” puts away the socks, even matching them in pairs. It’s really quite remarkable, and reason alone to reproduce.
Perhaps I should also encourage her to play doctor or president or scientist, rather than household help. It’s just so nice having her pitch in around here. Hopefully, one day, these personalities will merge and I will have a daughter who cleans up around the house without a fuss and doesn’t mind grabbing me a soda once in a while. Either that, or I’ll have a daughter with a severe personality disorder that will take years of therapy to undo. Small price to pay for a hand delivered soda.
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{ 99 comments }
If you pick me, I will share with you the photos of Marinka from the other night. They’re good!
I skipped right over to enter your drawing. I really hope I win, I’m on the verge of being the next what not to wear victim.
Great post! Makes me *almost* wish I had a girl.
Oh how cute! She is just adorable and what a creative way to get her to help out. :-)
Well for cleaning up, I find it very efficient to just start to pretend I’m throwing all my 3 year old’s toys away. She cleans up pretty well then. But for other tasks, she just needs to be my “xx” helper and she’ll do anything. I’m so scared for the day that a little friend says..Katie, do you want to me my “Jump of the Brooklyn bridge” helper? She’s also great at going anywhere in the house I need her to go with me as long as she can the line leader. She’s worse than my dogs at pushing me out of the way so she can get in front of me on the steps.
Hmmm…I think I need to encourage my daughter to acquire some other personalities ‘cos she does nada around the house! Right about now, Baby Alive is her top priority and nothing else matters! At 9 I was doing chores!
Princess Kabukah made me laugh so hard I started crying. And the fact the the laundry help is simply called “the folder” reminds me a lot of another little girl who came up with the brilliant name of “Peapod” for her stuffed peapod. Original, huh?
OMG that is too funny!! and you know I heart giveaways!!
Sounds like you are on to something! I just came over from Marinka’s. And now I am one of your followers too! Why I haven’t found you before is some kind of fluke.
OMG, she is so cute! I hope my girl is the same as she gets older!
Oh that is Hilarious. And very sneaky on your part!! I like :-)
Found you through OHMommy.
Your little girl is adorable…I love her spunky attitude! :)
LOL…I love how this benefits you! too cute! she is adorable
I wish I had a Sophia in my house! My son always tells me he can’t help because his legs or arms are broken, or that Spiderman is sick and he can’t help because he needs to get an ambiance and take him to the huxtable.
I absolutely love those shoes in her picture… I’m going to start mind warping games with my girls this evening – and every time I need help with something around the house. Thanks for the ideas!
What a fun game! I will be trying that later!
I cannot wait to win this contest! I never win anything and well this one… it has my name all over it :)
Look at that attitude in the cocking of the hip. That is too cute.
What is it about mommies and combing their little angles’ hair. I still have nightmares about those days. I think moms torture just because they can!! jk
Wish I had thought of that when I went through those times with my kids…good for you!
that lily is so adorable, she remind of my 4 year old daughter, she has quite an imagination. and she is like my 2 year old son when it comes time to get his hair washed i
have to play pretend with him to.
Great idea! I think I might have to steal it. I have a very stubborn and hard headed 5 year old girl. (Nothing like her mother) I think this will help her and help me.
Look at her, workin’ it for the camera.
Adorable!
Love your blog! Thanks for sharing! And, of course, I would LOOOOOVE to win that contest!
A fancy dinner at Chic-a-fil!!! LOL Cute.
Your kids will not go into therapy, trust me. You are letting them be their own self, which helps, a lot.
I will have to try these tactics with my daughter when she’s old enough. My boys would never give me the time of day. For them I’d have to stick with my usual bribe of candy for breakfast.
I loved this post! I hope I win!!
Jill in Nashville
What a cute and fun story! Rinsing the hair is a torture for my girl too. I will try this as she has an amagination also. Your little girl is fab looking in those strike a pose pics, lol.
Pick me!
That’s cute! What a great way to get your daughter to have her hair washed!
Personalities alway seem to get in the way! :)
Cats can walk on water..
What an angel! Love these photos.
count me in for the contest
Good idea with your daughter, I might try that on my own! I think I dread shampoo time more than her now!
What a great idea! Lily is one cutie patottie!
Precious girl….
Coco
Oh Thank God…I thought the multiple personalities was just us!
Of course, my boy is no where near as precious or imaginative as that Princess of yours! She’s a hoot!! LOVE her attitude (think she gets it naturally?)
My daughter is only 3 and 1/2 but already she has an entourage of make believe friends… or a case of multiple personality disorder! :)
So if I want my now 2 year old to helparound the house i need to foster multiple personalities now in order to make life easier in two years give or take 6 months?
Thanks for the heads up, I’m off to read my old Psych 101 texts to figure out how to get started
My son didn’t have another personality but he did have his imaginary friends…he’s outgrown them now but my favorite was Mr. WeeWax..there was a good Mr. WeeWax and a bad Mr. WeeWax who was responsible for most of the disasters in our house over the years.
shel704 at aol dot com
Look at her shake that hip! Wowsah! Jill, she’s such a character! What a cutie pie! You’re gonna have your hands full when she turns 16!
Oh, and i want to win too. xo
Great Blog! I love your writing!
I TOTALLY have to try this on my DD. She’s 3-going-on-30 and refuses MOST things. But I’m pretty sure she’d enjoy shopping with me if I won…
Oh I am definitely going to try this with my 4 year old. Especially the hair dressing one – she hates having her hair brushed.
EEEEEEEEKKK, I sooo excited! (that’s me squeeling) What an awesome giveaway! Thanks!
Maybe she’s preparing for a career as a runway model. She does pretty well in front of the camera! :)
I love the shoes :) My daughter has the exact same ones… Gotta love Disney Princess.
Enter me!!! =)
I love the outfit. My daughter is not falling too far behind yours as the next famous fashionista.
Hmmmmm, I need to start paying closer attention to the Peanut’s “invisible” friends!
Too funny!! I just had one of those “A-ha” moments; I can’t wait to try it out on my kids!!
So that is the secret, make it a pretend game. So remembering that one.
HOLY SMOKES could I ever use a wardrobe makeover to fix my pitiful state of my closet! YAY, thanks for the chance.
As always she is sooo cute. I love the games you play with her. They will do anything as long as we come down to their level and do things with them instead of at them. THats just so amazing right?
Love and Prayers,
Tim
This is an fantastic contest. I hope I win! Love your blog by the way!
mwshores@bellsouth.net
Awesome giveaway! enter me please!
Can Sophia come over and clean my house for no pay, as well? I’ll send her right back, I promise.
Too funny! I love the different names for the different roles. We aren’t that creative – we have pirate Reilly, frog Reilly, etc. You get the playful parent award. There is a book along those lines that I really like. It is amazing what play and a playful tone can do to help us connect with our kiddos and elicite some cooperation. It is so much easier than the fights.
Play comes in handy for us at the dinner table. “Don’t you eat my chicken…” I look away and it is gone. Of course I have to fake surprise, but it works and is so much nicer than constant nagging. Reilly even initiates the game some nights. Racing works wonders for getting dressed many mornings too.
Looking forward to seeing you guys in a couple weeks.
Must be nice to have a girl who like to “pretend” and do stuff like that. Having 3 boys is just the opposite……they are like tornados around my house and I get shot at all damn day :)
Enjoy it while it lasts huh?!
I’ll have to try this with my eldest who probably would not bring me a water if a dying of thirst. The little one always eager to help. I guess all their personalities are so different. Great story by the way.
Very cute. :)
And this is such a fun way to find new blogs! Not to mention a way to get free stuff. Thanks!
She is ADORABLE. My daughter was just like her. If she was wearing her blue velvet dress, her name was Heidi, and you’d better not try addressing her as anyone else. The good news is that she doesn’t have any psychological disorders. The bad news is that her “personalities” did not merge and getting her to do anything around the house is pure torture. :)
Wouldn’t it be amazing if our creative daughter’s did all those things (read: chores) in their regular egos rather than only in their alter-egos?
Mine are the same way – but none of their alter ego’s are named ‘mommy’. {sigh}
I so want to win this contest!
Please pick me and tell Marinka we want to know how the cat is doing.
What a great contest!
I am totally trying that with my daughter! I love it.
Do you rent her out?? Charge extras for the number of personalities used? I think you should. I’d bite…
me. just me. only pick me. k? thanx.
I my gosh we love it that our kids like to fetch things for us! It’s awesome! Can I have a Diet Coke? Can you hand me the remote? Can you go pay the bills please? It’s endless!
or maybe she’ll be a fabulous actress who is just as awesome in Wicked on Broadway as on a TV series like Pushing Daisies. No, wait, one like that already exists. But you know, Lily could be another :-)
If one of her personalities can write a press release, Jeff will never give the rest of them back to you!
Can’t wait to see you next week.
Scott
Love the shopping spree idea. Need a major overhaul. But also love finding a new read to linger over during my morning coffee. Thank you!
how funny! i love it when kiddos have character….she sounds like a lot of fun!
DUDE you’re a genius. Can you come be my kid’s mommy for a few days? PLeASEEE??? Besides, I really need a wife. You know, someone to cook, clean, make the beds, pay the bills, etc.
She is so sassy and cute! We role-play to get chores done also. Lots of fun!
That’s so great! I love when you can trick your kids into doing things for you. Um, I mean… when you can play with your kids!
Entry!!
Love the personality!! Too cute!!
I’m really keeping my fingers crossed for this awesome giveaway! Thanks for the chance to win!
I left a comment earlier but I now want to be in the contest. please enter me.
Enter me. heh heh. I have always wanted to say that to a woman. I love that about Lil!!! I hate to tell you this but I was exactly the same way. For me, Mary was the wonderful housekeeper. She has apparently died.
I really really want to win!
Totally, totally awesome. I linked to you. All moms need to know about your “master” plan. I just hope the kids don’t catch on.
I WANT TO WIN I WANT TO WIN…MY NEW MANTRA!
That is ONE spectacular outfit. I am loving how you get her to help – totally brilliant! Now I can win right, since I called you brilliant? ; )
Please enter me in the Shopping Spree!
Excellent. I dont have kids, maybe I can teach my dog to do this? Maybe not. I am also unemployed right now (this comment makes me sound sad!), so a few gift cards would be great now too.
-Elizabeth
Yeah! I am so excited about your giveaway! Put my name in the hat!
So glad I found your blog via OHmommy’s blog! It’s too funny.
Please enter me in the contest! I desperately need wardrobe help.
Cute pix!
Lily is super cute! And I am also super excited about the giveaway… so AWESOME! Found your blog through Classy Chaos, which I found through blog hopping :).
Yes, it’s great having kids pretend to be the hired help. I should totally pit mine against each other like a reality t.v. show.
My girls can get into this way of manipulation but they are quite inconsistent about it. Maybe I need to encourage them to assign themselves more fantastical and outrageous names. Hmmmmm…..
Your Lily has some serious groove with that hip getup – I just love it.
Now I have to go look into this contest of yours…
:-)
LOVE the slippers!!
Your daughter is precious! Lots of personality to go along with that cute smile too.
I believe that I have the same purple striped velour pants as your daughter.
That is all.
Hee! Hilarious. May she never lose the joy of imagination. (Unless it leads to delusions…)
Love the hand on the hip back shot!
I am very excited for this contest-I can’t wait to see who wins!
Here’s my comment for today, Happy Wednesday!
100.
My 3 year olds name is Lily…but I doubt this trick would work on her…UGH!
Oh man, I WISH I had thought of doing this. My daughter is 8 now. She might not fall for it:)
(Oh and thanks for making the SITS WW button!).
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