Don't encourage her

I know when my kid is crying. I can hear it. Even with the windows locked and doors bolted... I can still hear them crying when they're playing outside. I also know when they are fake crying, real crying, and emergency crying. I'm a mom like that.

So today while my two kids were outside playing,  my daughter started crying. I was inside mopping and knew the cry was just a ploy for help. I am not a sucker. I continued mopping.

THEN- I hear the neighbor guy asking "are you ok?" Great. Just Great. Why don't you go give a recovering alcoholic a shot of patron. Now my kid is screaming bloody murder because someone gave her the time of day. Lest I look like a bad parent I had to walk out there.

The guy sees me and considers it a 'tag in', so he leaves. I approach my wailing daughter and see that she has NO scratches on her body. Not a single mark. I silently curse the well-meaning neighbor. She's all "waaaaaa, my yeg.... it hurts....." I look at her leg, no marks there. I scan her body. she does have minimal chain damage on the opposite leg of which she is bemoaning. She doesn't even realize it's there. Thanks neighbor guy, thanks for enabling her. My 5 year old daughter who is addicted to attention, just got a hit from the neighbor.  Now whenever she bumps her elbow, scuffs a knee or bites a cheek she's going to scream at the highest decibel level she can reach because now, NOW, she knows it works.

"Neighborhood watch" my ass.