T-R-A

My 2 year old son L is getting a bit too smart. He definitely knows what treat means and now he constantly whines when that word is mentioned. All he wants is to eat his chocolate, and unfortunately, for us, he thinks whining is the best way to get it.

My other two kids get a small treat after dinner as long as they eat their vegetables, protein, and fruits. Instead of saying, the word treat, we started to spell out the word instead. Both my 7 year old daughter E and 5 year old son C understand what it means when we spell out the word. They know the drill when they hear T-R-E-A-T.

Spelling the word treat worked for a few weeks. I don’t think L understood why he never heard the word treat anymore. He did know the routine and sometimes he would see E and C with their treat and wonder how they got it. Of course the whining came shortly after and my wife usually ends up giving L a chocolate coin.

Fast forward a few weeks and my wife was spelling the word treat to signal to our older two kids what was about to go down. All of a sudden, L wanted to participate and said he wanted his T–R –A.

We were all shocked because even though he didn’t spell the word treat, he knew what we were trying to do to signal that it was treat time. After the surprise and laughter, L got his chocolate coin. Now every time he wants a treat, he says his three letters. Smart kid.