You did what?

"aren't you cold?"

"Isn't [Julia] cold?"

"You're going to get cold!"

These are the three greetings I receive from my mother-in-law, each and every time I see her. And she means well; she honestly believes that you should always be over-dressed as opposed to getting cold. As we arrived at her home, the first words out of her mouth were, "Why isn't Julia wearing a hat?"

Z: the sun is out and it's not cold.

G: I don't care, she needs a hat or she'll get cold.

Z: Hi Mom, How are you today?

If you know my daughter you know 2 things to be true: 1) she loves the spanish word bigote (mustache) and uses it whenever possible and 2) it could be 20 below out and the girl would be sweating under her hat.

As we were leaving grandma's house, she argued that Julia put her hat on before leaving, Julia disagreed. Grandma insisted. Julia says no and starts to cry. This goes on for a while as I generally allow the woman the chance to argue, read plead, with an obnoxiously stubborn 4 yr old. It's amusing for me to walch others experience what my life has become. Julia knows though that crying at Grandma's is hugely profitable and eagerly wails her disagreement. I realize that unless I convince either Julia or Grandma to give up, I'm not gonna get out of this situation. Grandma doesn't speak English. I choose to assuage Julia and this is when it happens.

I tell her to put on her hat so that Grandma will stop. I also tell her that as soon as we get halfway down the street that she can take the hat off. It piques her curiosity, she loves the art of manipulation (one I didn't teach her, honest) and so she contemplates the potential gains. I tell her again that she should just put on the hat and as soon as Grandma closes the door, she's free to take it off. Her eyes sparkle as she agrees, puts on the hat and kisses everyone goodbye.

We make it 4 houses and she looks at me. "Mommy, can I really take my hat off?" I agree and as she does so it dawns on me:

I have just taught my 4 yr old daughter the Art of Deception.