GET-WHAT-THEY-WANT GIRLS. YOU KNOW THE KIND.

I've known a few of these in my time.

Some might even accuse me of being one. (No need to assent here.)

But Chago recently pulled the "please, please, please, Mama" thing today as we were leaving school as he tried desperately to negotiate a playdate with a friend I'm not very fond of, and then immediately upon seeing that that was obviously NOT working, decided to launch full force into the Puss-in-Boots-big-kitty-eyes routine, and we hadn't even got past the gates.

The thing is, and he knows this already, that I absolutely do not care how adorably cute he looks or how much he makes my ears bleed, begging, verbally or optically, does not and has never worked in this family.

Evidently, though, it is a very common tool employed by many of his classmates. His female classmates.

And I'm absolutely certain their parents would be mortified to know that these little monsters not only know exactly what they're doing, they're actually sharing tips and tricks with one another. And what's worse, they're then bragging to their friends about how such-and-such tactic got them an extra day in Tahoe, and this-or-that tactic got them another hour at the arcade and $5 bucks in tokens.

Yes, really. They're GLOATING!!!

And when Santiago (according to Santiago, of course) tried to explain to them that he's already tried those things on me to no avail, they pretty much just told him that he wasn't doing it right. AND PROCEEDED TO PROVIDE HIM WITH STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS!!

"You must not have looked cute enough," one of them concluded.

"Or loud enough," the other one chimed in.

"You need to reaaaaaally whine until they cover their ears," the demons continued.

"That means you're getting ready to get what you want," the other banshee cackled.

And then he turned to me as we were crossing the street to the truck and said, "Why do they think that, Mama?"

And the thing is, he knows. He's not Mr. Innocent, although he likes to play one on TV. He knows full well how to play the manipulation game, and a part of that act includes asking questions that he already knows the answer to.

Saia, luckily, is not quite as good at it. And, very matter-of-factly, without lifting her head from her homework, says to him, "That's because they're get-what-they-want girls, Santiago. Everybody knows that."

[Ahhh. That's my girl.]

...