I'm allergic to that...

The Babe catches on pretty fast.  She knows how to wrap us around her little finger, and has improved her technique recently.  Specifically, when offered something she apparently does not want to eat, she says in a very serious voice, "I'm allergic to that; I have food allergies".  She will then shrug her shoulders and wander off.  While, yes, she does have food allergies, she is declining food she is not allergic to, she just doesn't want it.  Apparently she thinks that's the magic phrase to get her out of eating something she doesn't want.  We generally don't force her to eat, but when she's not cooperating, we do try to cajole or threaten (nothing bad, well, except to a 3 year old, when you tell them no more t.v.). 

So, while we feel a lot of guilt and let her get away with a lot of things due to her food allergies, she's figured out how to manipulate us further.  We're working on behavior modification with several things (sleeping the night through in her own bed, picking up her toys by herself, etc. etc.).  It seems to have reached a point where I've realized that she's an only child isolated by food allergies who isn't used to the word "no" being strongly enforced.  I don't want to create a little monster that other kids don't want to play with, who doesn't know how to share or take turns, or is just rude or stubborn when she doesn't get things her way.  Its a challenge because most of the time its just us, so of course she doesn't have to share her toys (no, really, I don't want to play all the time).  So, yes, we're definitely a work in progress.