How did that happen?

Vincent has an amazing ability to come up with what he thinks is a great idea and then convinces everyone else that it is a good idea.  Not only can he convince you it is a good idea, even if you previously told him he couldn’t do something, but you don’t realize you have been played until it is too late.  I usually end up thinking "How did that happen?"  Here are a few examples from the past couple weeks.

A Fort

While we were skiing in Michigan a couple weeks ago Vincent wanted to build a fort.  Everyone was ok with that and Brandon helped him build one.  Then Vincent wanted everyone to come in the tent with him.  It was guaranteed that he would be able to convince Grandma and Mommy to come in the tent but everyone else was going to be a challenge.  Vincent was convinced that everyone should come in the tent and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  He convinced his Uncle Joe, Aunt Jill, Grandma Dawn, Aunt Alyse, Joe, Cecilia and I were all crammed in the tent with Vincent.  Actually at one point he left and we were all just in there by ourselves.  We were a little scared to leave in case Vincent came back and yelled at us!  It takes a lot of skill to get 6 adults convinced to climb into a tent together and stay there for 20 minutes or more.

Easter Eggs

All kids love making Easter eggs.  Today Diane watched the kids while I went to Vincent’s parent teacher conference and to a hair appointment.  Vincent managed to convince Grandma to color Easter eggs after she told him it wasn’t a good idea and I discouraged it as well.  He said something along the lines of “Oh, come on.  It is just like a fun craft!”  When I came back to pick the kids up there was a plate full of gorgeous Easter eggs.

Potty Training

Tonight Joel was throwing a fit about getting his diaper changed.  I don’t know why but he didn’t want it changed.  Vincent decided it was time for Joel to be potty trained.  He said “Ok, Mommy we have a new rule in the house.  Everyone has to wear underwear and no diapers are allowed.”  I told him that wasn’t a good idea and Joel was wearing a diaper.  Then Vincent came over to where I was sitting on the couch and said “Um, Mommy we need to have a talk.  There is a new rule and everyone has to wear underwear now, except Cecilia.  That is the new rule.”  I told him to tell Joel about the new rule and see what he thought about that rule.  Vincent walked over to Joel and said “Joel we need to talk.  Wearing underwear is a lot of fun and then you can be like me and daddy.  Diapers are yucky.”  Joel just said “No.”  Vincent turned to me and said “Mommy, why don’t you talk to Joel.”

Vincent and I then had a discussion about why potty training Joel now wasn’t a good idea and that I didn’t want to clean up the floor when Joel had an accident.  Vincent volunteered to clean up the mess himself.  He also went upstairs and found underwear that fit Joel and brought it all downstairs.  I tried to put diapers on Joel again and Vincent hid both a cloth diaper and disposable diaper from me.

Joel is not thrilled about Vincent's plan

Joel ended up wearing underwear, he was forced to sit on the toilet and was crying about it.  He was not happy!  I decided to let him have a jelly bean anytime he sat on the toilet, because Vincent had me convinced that this was suddenly a great idea.  After cleaning the floor 5 or 6 times in 2 hours and Joel being miserable I decided it was time for a diaper.  Vincent was not happy!  He was still thinking that Joel should only wear underwear and even sleep in underwear.  He kept saying “It’s easy.  You just go to the potty when you have to pee.”  Up until August Vincent was still having accidents once a week and he still wets the bed once or twice a week, so this potty training is so easy attitude was making me laugh.  

Vincent getting ready to put underwear on Joel

At one point tonight Vincent literally attempted to put underwear on Joel by himself and even attempted to drag him to the bathroom several different times.  It turns out Joel will do anything for a jelly bean so I was able to assist Vincent with promises of jelly beans.  Joel did pee on the potty once tonight but unfortunately it ended up all over the floor, however Vincent cleaned it up without even complaining.  We ended the night with a compromise everyone was happy with, Joel in a diaper with underwear over the diaper.  I am pretty sure Vincent is planning to continue the potty training tomorrow.  As long as he keeps feeding Joel jelly beans I think everyone will be happy.  Although they will probably run out of clean underwear by noon at the rate they are going through them!