Whining for the Phone

My 4 year old C has always been an early bird. He is almost always the first one up and bursts through the bedroom doors to wake everyone up to play. For the last few months, he has been going into the room where my wife and baby boy L are sleeping to start their day.

Of course my wife is exhausted and usually hasn’t gotten enough sleep. L keeps waking up periodically and feeding. He also has started to get mini nightmares (probably of not getting enough blueberries to eat because he loves them). When my wife is too tired in the mornings and L is also too cranky to play, C begins to whine. He whines so much that he eventually gets my wife’s phone so he can type emojis into a notepad. C loves to do this and he learned very quickly that the more he whines, the more he will get the phone from Mommy.

One morning, I was up shortly after C woke up. My 6 year old daughter woke up too and we went into the bedroom where everyone was. I saw C on the phone and E also asked why he was on the phone so early. He replied that because he whines, he gets the phone. He also said it in a way where he was proud he figured out this life hack. I told him that it isn’t good to whine and that he should ask nicely for what he wants. It’s also not good for him to be in the phone, so he would need to entertain himself quietly another way if he’s going to be in the room.

Luckily, he has now went back to playing with L most of the time. They love playing with each other and it’s good brother time in those early mornings. Just the two of them playing. And on those mornings where my wife and L are still very tired, the phone will still come out to save the day. Just minus the whining.