Reverse Psychology.....It's a Beautiful Thing

I'm not sure if it is a male thing or whether it is just an Olsen thing, but reverse psychology is something that the boys in our household regularly fall victim to. Do I really have to call it manipulation? That sounds so much uglier!

The story goes like this. John surprised us by coming home early from work Monday afternoon. He had been bugging me to get the ingredients for a favorite stir-fry he likes to cook, so I suggested that I'd be happy to make dinner but I wouldn't feel bad if he'd rather do it "since he is so much better at it". John needs little encouragement to hop into the limelight so he got right down to business. Upon hearing about the unusual event of Dad cooking, Eric came in to peer about the kitchen. I had decided to play sous chef to get ahead of the mess that always follows John's concoctions, so I laid out the necessary red onion, green and red pepper and pretty much every spice I own since John likes to experiment. As Eric wandered about the kitchen, he wondered aloud if it is really true that onions make you cry. I told him that if he were a little older, I'd let him test the theory. He wanted to know why he couldn't try it today. I told him that since onions require an actual grown-up sharp knife, he was probably a little inexperienced to use it. (I regularly try to entice Eric into the kitchen, but he rarely shows any interest). All he needed to hear was perhaps he wouldn't be allowed to use a real knife to cement his determination to beg for the privilege. He assured me "Really Mom, I can handle it." With a grin of victory on my face, I demonstrated how to slice the onion. I could barely restrain him from grabbing the knife from me with his anticipation at trying it himself. As he hacked away, he said "Mom, could you please step back so I don't gore you?"

As dinner prep progressed, Eric proved the theory that onions make you cry even with glasses on, John got satisfaction at everybody oohing and aaahing at his great meal (Caroline even indulged the green and red peppers) and I once again saw the result of somebody actually begging to do something I wanted them to do in the first place!!