Pavlov was Right

I can foresee the day that my teenage child comes home crying because she was left out of a social event-- it will break my heart and I will quickly put my pork chops in the back of the refrigerator and let said child pick dinner for the evening (and I am sure it will not be the pork chops I will have planned for that night's dinner).

But......

I will remind her of the social calendar she had in preschool. Preschool parents plan preschool parties. Preschool parents haven't yet given up on the "be nice to others" theory and therefore invite everyone to their child's birthday party. Part of pre-party preparation means role-playing scenarios such as how to politely decline the hot dog covered in ketchup, how to make sure you are not in every single birthday party picture, what to do when you can't see the gift that was just opened, what to say when it is time to go, and how to keep your mouth shut when you don't like the cake that the poor preschool mom spent hours making.

We now have a new scene to role-play. This new scene has also been exacerbated by the mass amounts of Easter Egg Hunts we have been privy to. This role-play will be "How to act when your Pinata Loot Bag is not as Filled as the Others "or the holiday edition "How to act when you don't have as many Easter eggs in your Basket as the Others".

Kaci's current modus operandi is to cry until EVERY other preschooler and their parent feels bad and loads her bag/basket until it is brimming with loot. The first time I witnessed the tears, I thought, "Wow, what a wonderful lesson for Kaci to see the grace others gave to her when she was sad." Four pinatas and two Easter Egg Hunts later, it is not so much a lesson on grace, but greed. Kaci has learned that her tears work to increase her swag. And yesterday's birthday party included an Easter Egg Hunt and a pinata so Kaci had two opportunities to successfully navigate her tears.

Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate whenever they heard a bell- dogs would hear the bell and were conditioned to believe that food would follow. Well, his theory was right. Kaci has been conditioned to cry whenever the pinata is brought out- she believes that a bag full of candy is to follow.

I am sure that Pavlov's dogs were sent to some farm when the experiment was over. What am I supposed to do with Kaci?