Call me a politician. I've discovered the tricks of the mommy trade and what things will get my son to do just about anything...
#1: CHIPS... potato chips, corn chips, taro chips, tings, veggie bootie, tortilla chips... anything he thinks is a 'chip' (even a cracker might do) this kid will stop his crying, end a tantrum, move when he's supposed to... if he's made to believe there's a bag of chips as a reward somewhere. Don't sleep on Robert's American Gourmet "Tings" (think Cheetos without the cheese and fortified with nutritional yeast) and "Veggie Booty"... positively addictive!
#2: VITAMINS.. ok this one I'm not mad at, except for the fact that you really can overdose them. Still, for his daily allotment, he'll do a dance. I think he thinks they are candy. Hopefully I'm not setting any sort of precedent for a pill popping future...
#3: PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES: better yet, anything with wheels. It's crazy how no matter how hard you try to be non-gender specific, boys gravitate towards machinery and girls towards dolls. Now mind you, my son does also push around his mini-McClaren stroller with Spiderman in it, much to the protest of machismo babydaddy (to which I answered: well my son is going to know this is what men have to do too). Still, if I give him a car or Thomas train to hold, that will pretty much give me at least 90 seconds of peace.
#4: BOX JUICE: no not juice in his sippy cup, but a straw and a box of juice that comes with characters on it, preferably Elmo or Cookie Monster. Turns his nose at fresh juice I make with my beloved juicer, but dammit he'll get his act right on for a box juice.
You can imagine all the supplies I have to carry in my bag to get out in the world with him and minimize the number of incidents and/or threats occuring.


