Baby Crack

I caught myself using another teacher trick/behavior modification technique. Okay, first I discovered Baby Cocaine. Usually when I put Cade in his high chair he first gets a little toy, book, or Gerber snack. Tonight the Gerber snack was closest item, so I grabbed the canister and ripped it open, eager to see how well Cinnamon Maple Crunchies would go over. Silly Mommy wondered how cute his face would be when he realized it wasn't the usual Zesty Tomato flavor and instead is more of a Sonic french toast dippers flavor. Silly Mommy thought it was cute the first 4 times he clapped his hands vigorously together, baby signing request for "MORE!!!"

When his chicken and brown rice/green bean jars were heated up (sorry man, you can't sample my potato skins dinner tonight!) I brought them over the table. He took 2 bites, pointed to the Crunchies can and then signed "more". Wow, awesome distal point + request combo! And that's when I, of course, honored his communication attempts and gave him 2 crunchies.

Cuteness end. Cue demon crack-addict baby, enter stage left.

Cade cried and cried and batted away the spoons of meat and spoons of veggies. Chicken puree was in his hair, green beans were crusted on his face. He kept requesting cinnamon Crunchies and would NOT end the tantrum until one ended up his hand. My situation was dire. The kid was like a crack addict pheening for next hit and I was the dealer who was withholding the goods. Whenever I'm confronted by wild behavior at school and I pause, take a deep breath and consider my options. Leaving him alone with the can of Crunchies while I took a hot shower didn't seem like the choice that would earn me diamonds this Mothers Day (always gotta think ahead, sistas!) so I resorted to good ol' Premack Principle. First/Then.

First, spoon of baby food. Then, a crunchie. After one try of this I realized I'd run out of crunchies and rocket Cade's weight to the 2nd %ile if I kept that up. So I broke the Crunchies in half and did First spoon of food, Then Crunchie bite. That little baby was like putty in my hands. Before I knew it, he was eating 8 spoons of food before earning one little Crunchie bite. SUCCESS!!!! My college education paid off! He finished his food, we developed a bond in a stressful situation, and he realized an important life lesson...if you want your baby crack, you gotta pay the dealer's price.