This happened over and over.  To be honest I found it extremely annoying.  Finally, I quit responding to “Guess what, mom?”  It was the only thing I could think of to stop the repeated asking of that question.

Anna went back to saying “Guess what, mom?” everyday.  I would always refuse to respond.  I was determined not to fall for it anymore and I was determined to not allow my child to push my buttons that much anymore.  However, I had seriously under estimated my child’s determination.

After a full day of “Guess what?” and my constant no’s, Anna implemented her new strategy.  She would look at me with a sincere, and wounded face, and say “Mom, I had something else to tell you instead of chicken butt”  Of course, I was appalled at myself for hurting her feelings by not taking the time to hear her exciting news.  In an effort to right the wrong I had committed, I would then say “What?”, only to be immediately blasted with “Chicken Butt!!!!”

It was at this point I had to concede my defeat.  Anna had won the chicken butt war.  From that point on, I would respond to “Guess what? with my “What?” every single time.  It actually became second nature and quite boring.  We finally quit hearing “Guess what” around the house.  

I was relieved.  I was so happy her game had finally run its course and she was done with it.  Yeah, right!  She had come up with a new strategy during that no “chicken butt” time.

Once again horrible sounding “Guess what, mom?”  came out of her mouth.  I responded with “No, Anna”.  That is when she started playing dirty.  When I would tell her no, she would respond with “But, Mom….I was just going to tell you I love you.”  Of course I fell for it, and you can guess the outcome, “Chicken butt!”


She is sneaky though.  Very, very sneaky.  Sometimes instead of saying “Chicken Butt”, she actually says “Mom, I love you”.  Which means I am currently caught in her “Chicken Butt” trap.  How can I say no to “Guess what, mom? “, when her response might be “Mom, I love you”.



I have had to implemented my own strategy.  When she says “Guess what, mom?”, instead of the usual response of “What?”, I respond with “I love you”.   I think my strategy is working.  Just yesterday when she tried her routine, and I answered with my new response, she seemed very disappointed.  She replied with “Aww, mom, I was going to say chicken butt”.

As much as I hate to admit this, the whole “chicken butt” thing has become a funny memory for me.  I think it will be one of those memories that when Anna gets older she and I can laugh about it together.  The other thing about this crazy game Anna has been playing with me, is that even on my bad mental health days, it was causing me to think about other things besides my own misery.  Either I was thinking about how crazy she was making me because she would not stop, or I was thinking about ways to get her to stop.  

I am not sure if that was her intention when she started the game or not.  She is a smart kid, so it very well could have been.  Either way I think she is gifted in her ability to distract people from the things that are making them feel bad.  

I also think her silly game has caused us to be closer.  Because I am responding with “I love you”, every time she tries to “chicken butt” me, I am saying “I love you” to her way more than I used to.  I am sure that is making her feel more loved than she has in the last few years when my depression was so out of control.  The “I love you” and those shared memories are things that will make our emotional ties much stronger.