I have been fighting a losing battle with Kade over the length of his fingernails. His absolute refusal to cooperate and advanced negotiation skills resulted in ten gangly nails…full of black gunk, playdough, boogers, and whatever else managed to wedge itself under there. About 6 months ago, I accidentally clipped one nail too short, which drew blood and caused him to avoid nail-trimming at all costs. Since then, it has become increasingly difficult to cut his nails. For over a month, I have tried everything short of taking him to the toy store (that’s where I draw the line), with no success. Kyle offered movies, forbidden fruit snacks, extra marshmallows with his hot cocoa…nothing worked. I even told him that I’d have to call the doctor if he didn’t let me clip them (I know that’s horrible parenting, and a great way to instill fear in doctor’s visits…but you had to see these things to understand). There was no way I was going to sneak in while he was sleeping because Kade is not the easiest kid to get back to sleep, and since I’m opposed to torturing 3-year-olds, restraining him wasn’t an option either. I decided to just keep asking him…every day…hoping that eventually he’d give in just so I’d shut up (this always seems to work when he does it). This afternoon I offered to just cut one to prove that it wouldn’t hurt, and he reluctantly agreed to let me continue…as long as he got a movie and bowl of marshmallows out of the deal. The poor kid’s hands were pouring sweat while I clipped away, but he’s now free of all aforementioned nail dirt, and much less dangerous in the presence of his sister. He made sure to tell me that we could “wait and cut his piggies next week,”…no problem…those are much easier to hide.