No, no, no, no, nooooooo

The defiant 3's are in full swing! At this age, dealings with children are more of a bargaining game as opposed to my original vision of sole dictatorship by parent! Davey has learned on many occasions that his Mom is not to be "messed with" (sassed, talked-back too, yelled at, argued with, ect) OR ELSE!

BE AWARE: that 3 is also the age that your words of punishment, praise & encouragement, and reprimand come back to haunt you! I have on several occasions heard not only my words come out of Davey's mouth, but also my Mother's. Is it possible to remain mute for the duration of his youth?

Davey is a smart child. He has learned in 3 short years to work the angles to his advantage (darn that fish oil), and he has also learned the art of negotiating with adults to work most situations to his liking (again with the fish oil). I take some credit in this learning, because he has been hooked to my side for the past few years!
On this particular day, he caught me unaware and not only did it make me smile, I believe a giggle escaped my flustered face.
Place: car
Activity: driving
Time: after work
I began making "a deal" with Davey that if he was good in the grocery store- interjection into story- ( Often even the best behaved children turn into BeBe's kids running the aisles and acting crazy when let out of the cart- and you will find no Twinkies, soda, or high fructose corn syrup in our cart- however it comes from somewhere deep inside them to misbehave as Mom is trying to concentrate on multiple tasks!)
-back to story- that if he was good, there would be a treat.
GOOD BEHAVIOR= TREAT
A simple mathematical equation? Of course the treat could be a penny to put in his piggy bank, a gum ball, a quarter to help earn him a hot wheel car, or the actual hot wheel car merits a big treat!
Well, Davey shocked me by telling me to "wait, just a minute.... and no, no, no, nooooooo, let me ask you if you will......." and to be honest I didn't hear what he said, I was so shocked that my little tyke was so smart to realize that I was treating our relationship as a democracy and that he had a voice in the matter, that I whipped my head around to see a little boy sitting where an infant use to be.

Eyes glowing, and face lit up with intellect and excitement,
I LOVE THIS AGE!