How to Negotiate With a Two Year Old

My two year-old grandson Jack, loves my Boston Terrier, Betty. In addition to walking her and playing ball, Jack also loves to wear his “doggy” shirt from a shop in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He loves it so much that he wears it every day. This, of course, presents a problem when the shirt needs washing. He is willing to take it off at night because he has special horsey pajamas that he wears every night, but that is another story.

When I was visiting recently, I tried to get him to wear a different shirt. I tricked him for about two minutes when I got him to wear another orange shirt. Then he realized it had a giraffe on it rather that his beloved black dog. He quickly took it off and demanded the real thing.

Jack’s parents wisely decided not to negotiate with Jack about his favorite shirt. They just bought four other orange doggy shirts so he would always have a spare. I agree with that approach.

I was thinking about the rules of negotiations However, there are certain situations where it just doesn’t pay to try to change someone’s mind and this is one of them. Why not let Jack wear the “doggy” shirt if he wants? It is kind of heart-warming to see someone so passionate about his shirt. It is sort of like Linus and his blanket.

So how do you negotiate With A two-year old? Sometimes the best thing is not to negotiate at all and let him wear what he wants.

Now if he is still wearing this shirt in college, I may have to step in.