Home Stretch

Sunny still has a sore throat, but his energy level this morning seemed normal, so I took him to school.

This morning we averted a meltdown again. While I was preparing his breakfast and lunch I asked him to pause his dinosaur show so he could let our dog out, wait for him to finish peeing then let him back in again. This only takes a couple minutes and it's something he's used to doing when Guy's around.

Pouting and wailing ensued. I just went on cooking. Sunny walked into the kitchen and talked at my back...

"You're never nice to me! When I'm older, I'm going to a different house with different parents!"
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way right now, but asking you to let the dog out is a very reasonable request."
"I disagree with that statement!"

That last one made me chuckle. I've told him to say "I disagree with that statement" as a politer way of saying "you're wrong," but he's really fallen in love with the phrase, and has been trying it out in all kinds of contexts.

I didn't get sucked into an argument with him; he walked away and let the dog out.

I think he's going to stop using the new "new parents" line once he realizes that it doesn't get results.

When he's not going into a pout or wanting to start a power struggle, Sunny has amazing manners. For example, in the car, I'd left a CD I bought for him running. I always listen to news and traffic reports in the morning, but I'd just forgotten to switch from the CD. He said, "Thank you Mom for playing my CD for me!"

Like a commenter noted on my last post, I know that Sunny is very strong-willed and is always going to be that way. It's an important point. I've known a lot of strong-willed people in my own family already, so I'm familiar with the type. It's not going to be easy raising him, but there are positives too. For example, I have a feeling that negative peer pressure won't be as much of a problem for us.

Guy will be back today... whoo hoo!