He knew that I knew that he knew what he wanted…

Grant can be the most stubborn little turkey.

When he was about 2 years old he wasn’t really talking, but he had a few words to go along with some hand gestures. One of those was for getting down from his high chair at the table. He would say “down, down” and point down at the floor. All of the other boys say “May I be excused please?” when they want to leave the table. Grant would do his best to follow suit. So we knew he could do it.

One Saturday morning, Rich fed him breakfast and when Grant was finished eating, Rich waited for him to say “down, down.” Grant would not say it. Rich asked him to say it. Then after trying to coax him for a while, Rich told him to say it. Grant refused.

The battle of the wills was on.

Rich finally put Grant, still in his high chair, into the corner. Even after that, Grant lasted at least a half an hour. All total, that child lasted two and a half hours before giving in and asking to get down.

Later, Rich and I marveled about how incredibly stubborn Grant is. How he knew exactly what we wanted him to do and he refused to do it… just to screw with his parents. We also discussed how important it is as parents to establish who is running the show – the parents and not the kids. We talked about how important consistency is when it comes to parenting. Thank goodness Grant learned his lesson.

That was Saturday.

On the following Tuesday morning, I fed Grant his breakfast and waited for him to ask to get down. He didn’t. I reminded him to say “down, down.” He wouldn’t. This was about 7:30 in the morning. Rich was on his way out the door to the office. He reminded me to be consistent. Got it. No problemo. A 2-year old isn’t going to get the best of me!

Seven and a half hours later, that child was once again in the corner, facing the wall, in his high chair. He refused to budge and actually laughed at me a couple of times. (I had been periodically checking his diaper. Thankfully it was OK the whole time.) He finally fell asleep and I was able to take him out of the chair and put him in his bed. I was almost in tears, so thank God he fell asleep or I really think I would have been the one to break first.

He has never done anything like that again.

However, he still likes to screw with me. What follows are little 20 second video snippets of him asking for a cookie. I know he wants a cookie. He knows he wants a cookie. We both know he wants a cookie and that he can ask for a cookie. Yet he chooses to screw with me:

Mom I’m hungry!
What would you like?
Um, um, um, something with a crack in it.
A crack in it?!
Yes. And tasty. And round. Um, um, um, will you get that for me?
You need to tell me what it is you want. Use your words.
You know, with the crack in it. And chalk. I mean chocolate.
An egg? A pork chop? Yogurt? Lima beans? Coffee? Top sirloin? Oatmeal? etc.
No no. no. no. etc.

He’s such a ham.

And at the end, rather than give in and admit defeat (yet not wanting to do this anymore) he spotted a Hershey bar and pretended that was what he had wanted all along.

I know he knows that I know Hershey bars are not round… but I know to quit while I’m ahead.