Reasoning with a 1 Year Old

Am I crazy to try to reason with a 1 year old? Sometimes I question that since it’s impossible to truly communicate with them. Their grasp of the concepts you are trying to explain, let alone the words themselves are a chasm that is uncrossable. It doesn’t stop me from trying though with my 1 year old son L.

L is starting to speak a lot more. He can recognize and say his colors, shapes, construction vehicles, animals, and all kinds of other things. Because of this, I have a delusion to try and reason with a 1 year old. When he throws a tantrum, I repeat why he can’t have something and oddly enough, it works sometimes.

I usually eat The Perfect Bar for breakfast, especially when I’m in a rush (which is most mornings). L has grown quite fond of it and my 7 year old daughter E and 5 year old son C all had a similar phase around this age. It does have a lot of sugar from the honey in it, so I don’t like L to eat too much of it. I will break off half of it in little pieces for him and I’ll eat the rest.

When L is done with his pieces, he will scream and cry for more. I ask him if he is sad and he says yes usually while sobbing. Then I tell him there isn’t any more and we have to go buy some more at the store (which may or may not be true). It’s better than a coin flip’s chance that he calms down when I tell him that and honestly it’s been working better and better over time.

I’m not sure what is different between the times it works and the times it doesn’t work, but when it works it is beautiful. He asks for a hug and usually stops crying quickly because his little brain is processing what happened. It’s so cute and maybe that’s why I keep doing it as well when he throws his tantrums. I want him to understand and I definitely want that hug at the end of it all.