Sam Tells It Like It Is

Sam came down with a cold last week. He seems to feel fine but his nose just won't stop running! At first he was wiping at his nose with his sleeve. Ugh - it made me sick. We bought a box of tissues and within an hour I had him trained to ask me to wipe his nose instead of doing it himself. Now he walks up to me with his finger alongside his nose, says, "Hmm?" and we go take care of it. (I have worked with many, many two-year-olds, and it should NOT have been that easy.)

Each time he points at his nose, I ask, "Do you need a tissue?" He says yes, but I am trying to get him to say he needs a tissue, or he has an issue, or anything close to what he needs. We are still in a power struggle regarding Sam's speech.

Last night Sam had just come out of the tub when he started pointing at his nose. "Do you need a tissue?" I asked. Sam nodded. "Do you need a tissue?" I persisted.

Sam looked at me with a sly smile. "I gotta boogah," he said. And then he laughed maniacally.

That was good enough for me!