Formally, most cons revolve around money; the artist hopes to get money from the mark and the mark is hooked into the con by the promise of a large pay out by the artist.
That financial model, clearly, is not at play as I endeavor to con my two-year-old daughter. In spite of the bonds and saving accounts set up for her by doting grandparents, I don’t particularly want her money. What I want is her obedience, and for her to adopt certain behaviors – like eating vegetables, or keeping her clothes on.
Further, for the time being my daughter does not want my money. More than anything, she wants juice, she wants to wear her tu-tu, and she wants cake.
The good news is that I can easily appeal to her self-interest with promises of juice and cake. The bad news is that the business of the con is complicated by the need to draw a behavioral line between something like eating vegetables and the promise of lemon tort.
Many cons rely on the free flow of money in order for the artist to slip away with his payout. It will be wise of me to modify the structure of some of these cons to make them work as a parenting tool.
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