So my 2 year old has developed a new psychological ploy in her ongoing struggle to run the universe. She simply suggests her desired outcome instead of waiting for someone else to tell her what is going on. For example, my husband calls her from the other room. She has left her toys all over the floor, which she knows will get her in trouble, and she can hear from Daddy's voice that all is not sweetness and light. But instead of trying to hide, or skulking into the room dejectedly, she bounces in - all joy and energy - and asks in her sweetest little voice, "what, Daddy? You want to give me a cookie?" Or when I was hurrying her (as always) to try and actually get ready and get out of the house sometime in that same day, her response to my "hurry up! We've got to go now!" was another sweet voiced reply - "Where? Disneyland?"
Oddly enough, instead of being aggravating, her positivity diffuses the negativity with the result that, manipulated or not, we sometimes even give her what she has suggested. Not an instant trip to Disneyland, of course. But perhaps, after having her pick up her toys, she ends up with a cookie she wouldn't have otherwise received. Which gets me to thinking. What if we did more of what she does? What if we expected positive results and actually vocalized it more? I know that there are whole books on the power of positive thinking, and that the latest "hot" idea is "The Secret," about putting out to the universe what it is you want and then going about as if you are certain to get it. But still, could it really work?
I used to get really irritated with people who declared that they refuse to read newspapers or watch the news because it was just too depressing, but now there are days when I just can't stand how I end up feeling after yet another story on how bad things are and dire projections for the future. What if, when economists, reporters, politicians, employers, anyone who has power over our lives begins to offer more negative, we simply beat them to the chase with, "what, you want to make my life better?" Seriously, I'm not that naive, but still - I wonder. Especially as Chloe eats her cookie.