Ultimatums

The other evening we were getting ready to head out grocery shopping so Chad put Tyler's shoes on and went outside to get the car started. It was my job to finish getting Ty ready to go. I grabbed his jacket and told him to come put it on cause we were going "byes". He shook his head no and backed into the corner. I said, "Don't you want to go byes with us?" and he again shook his head no. So I asked him, "Want me to call Kathy (she's the babysitter across the street)?" He paused and looked at me, so I repeated the question. He moved towards the door and looked out the side window (as if she would be walking up the sidewalk to the house now). So I asked one more time, "Do you want to stay with Kathy or go byes?" And he suddenly ran over to me with his arms reached out for his jacket. Nothing a little ultimatum couldn't fix.

Now here is the problem. If we continue to use this scenario to get him to do things we want, when in fact we do need Kathy to come babysit he is going to have a MAJOR MELTDOWN. Thus, I stopped my ultimatums and have moved on to finding another way to get a toddler to do what his mother wants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!