The Power of Thank You

Will is 17 months old this week and we are venturing into the beginnings of talking. He's got a few words down, and some all sound the same but are for totally different things... Like:
Bah-Bah = bottle/sippy cup
bah = What a sheep says
BAH! = Ball
Buh = Buzz Lightyear

It definitely keeps us on our toes trying to figure out what he's talking about and trying to piece it together along with what he's pointing at or shaking his head yes or no for. Lately, we've had a bit of a struggle with beverages at dinnertime. I give him milk, usually, in the morning when he wakes up and at night before bed. For meals, he's drinking water or water with a splash of juice (unless Hubby makes it and then it's juice with a splash of water...because he says I'm not a regular Dad, I'm a cool Dad.). The last couple of nights Will starts having a meltdown when he wants a drink and I hand him juice. The first couple times it was really frustrating because he would be eating just fine and then stop and ask for a "Bah-Bah". I would hand him his juice and he would push it away, or my favorite - take a sip and throw it on the floor with a bang and a splash of it's contents...

What do you want?!

I'm frustrated because he can't tell me, and he's frustrated because he can't tell me. At least we're frustrated about the same thing... So then I start doing what I can to figure out what he wants. I know he wants a drink, so I start grabbing stuff out of the fridge, not my favorite thing to do, but I'll try what I can to prevent a full on throw down.

Holding up water "Do you want this?" - Will shakes his head No.
Holding up Juice "Do you want this?" - No again.
Ugh.
Holding up another kind of juice "Do you want this?" - Nope.
Finally after the 5th or 6th try...Holding up milk "Do you want this?!" - YES!
The first night this happened, Will got happy and went "MmmmmMMMmmm". OH! OK! Who knew my 17 month old would have a preference for what beverage he would like to enjoy with his dinner?! What's next? Me offering him a taste so he can swirl it around in his class and tell me "Yeah, that's a good year".

Once I hand him his bah-bah of milk, he sweetly says "Deet doo!". Aw... all of the frustration that had built up for the last 5 minutes (but it seems more like 20) melts away because my son is a polite little man and says Thank you! I love it!

When little frustrating moments like this have been happening, once Hubby and/or I figure out what he's trying to tell us, we hand it over and get the sweet reward of "deet doo". Hubby and I laugh that those cute little words instantly melt away our aggravation.

Manners are a huge deal for us. If my son has a crazy tantrum in the middle of Target, at least he will say "Thank you" when I give in and let him have a sip of my Frappuccino. But seriously, manners are at the top of our list of important things to teach our kids because it's something we find really lacking in people we deal with, and have dealt with, on a day to day basis. Hubby and I both agreed that our children will be respectful and polite above all else. Once Will began to be more mobile and interact more, I would say "Thank you" every time he would hand me something. When I would hand him something, I would also say "Thank you". And we just kept this up.

Kids are smart! Then pick up on your everyday nuances, so I guess it helped me remember to be polite while teaching my boy to be polite by saying Thank you! It's the little things that go a long way!