Willful

Sometimes I wonder about the sagacity of giving Jamie the power of speech. Lately he's been coming out with some doozies. Other times, he's just hilarious.

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Jamie thinks that discipline is funny. This presents all manner of problems, of course.  One evening, I scolded him for something (I don't remember what) and he started to laugh at me.

"You're not funny, Jamie," I said sternly.

"Oh, I funny, Mommy," he replied.

Yeah. You're a riot, Alice.

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This morning we were on our way home from the grocery store and Jamie was in the backseat repeating "Hai-ya! Hai-ya! Hai-ya ya ya!" over and over again.

So I said it right back to him.

"Stop that, Mommy, that's annoying," he said.

O RLY!?

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I took Jamie to lunch at Eat n Park (a perennial favorite of my children) and when his milk came to the table he grabbed a straw to put in it.  As he was tearing off the wrapper...

*gasp* "A bendy straw?!" he said.

"Yes, a bendy straw," I replied.

"For me?!"

"For you."

"Yesssssss!"

Who knew bendy straws were that exciting?

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When he's not being a smart ass he's being stubborn. I hear "no" and "I don't want to" an awful lot around here. He's got an opinion on just about everything and he's not afraid to voice it. I love this child to distraction and he can be sweet and adorable and loving. I try to remind myself that there will come a day when stubborn self-confidence will serve him well and in the meantime, I just have to civilize his savage side.

As my mother said on the phone today, "You can't strip to a loincloth, paint yourself blue, and attack the neighbors, kid."

Indeed.