The kid is a whirlwind of will. Every instruction. Every request. Every comment. Every demand. All are met with a retort. Nothing Aristotelian. Actually, it often is the same retort: "Why?"
And we are not above relying on the staple of parenting: "Because I said so."
The kid's not even a pre-teen, and we seem to be constantly fighting a battle of wills. The most difficult part of this is how cute Kee is. He shoots a look in between melt downs or he flashes his dimples or his million dollar smile. Hard to hold your disciplinary ground when the subject of your instruction makes you giggle. Who among you wouldn't crack up when your kid asks you to come look at his poop?
These challenging moments serve as a reminder to me that this parenting thing is a full-time gig, and it will continue to evolve -- uncovering new battles and new opportunities for instruction. The key, even now, is being consistent. I am somewhat hopeful that as Kee ages, his ability to reason will make certain aspects of this easier while at the same time giving him more ammunition with which to fight. It this were a Texas hold 'em poker match, I would say that I am "all in." When we get to the flop, the turn and the river, I'll still be at the table.
3 comments:
Ahhh yes. Amanda has her moments, but Megan is the ultimate "terrible three's" in our house. She wants to do everything herself without help and her own way, no matter what it is. And she is stubborn, so stubborn. Her way or the highway stubborn, but a lot of times she's super cute (until she's gotten herself in a fully blown tizzy) with her hands on her hips, stomping a foot, and pointing at you like she thinks she's in charge. We tell her not to smile and she can't help but start smiling. The best is when this happens and then she gets mad because she was trying to stay angry and couldn't and then forgets what she was angry about to begin with. : )
Thanks Kate! Whenever I get frustrated with Kee, I can always be thankful that there's only 1 of him. Twin Terrible Threes might be the end of me. Ha!
It was age 4 for ours. That's when they got their cartoon voices. A solid year of vocal experimenting, horrid. And awesome. I keep thinking Kee couldn't possible get any cuter. And then he does. Wonder boy.
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