Mr. Independent

Bro still walks with his mail cart. It is his favorite outdoor activity.

I used to have to walk right in front of him. He needed to be able to see me at all times.

Now, he runs along, checking back every once in awhile to make sure I am still there.

Occasionally he finds a treasure to carry in his cart.

Here he is perfecting his "I'm not listening skills." It goes something like this.

Napmoms says, "Ew. Bro! That's disgusting! No! Leave that alone. That's not for Bro."

Again...

"Bro.

No.

Stop playing with that.

Bro.

Bro.

B-r-o!

No sir.

Mommy wants you to stop doing that.

Bro!"

And still...
"Bro.
No.
Bro.
Bro.
Bro.
Bro.
Bro.
Bro.
Bro."

Deep breath. Can you say "broken record?"

He also likes to do everything himself. Just today, he was sitting in his chair and motioning for some bacon. Like a good mom, I got the bacon, tore off a piece and put the piece on his plate. He screamed. Fine. So, then I put the rest of the bacon on his plate - the larger piece. He screamed again. Fine. I went and got a whole piece of bacon and put it on his plate. He was happy.

A bit later he found a snack bag of graham crackers. He brought it to me. I opened the bag and handed him a graham cracker. He screamed. I put the piece of graham cracker back in the bag. He screamed. I opened the bag and allowed him to grab his own graham cracker. He was happy.

Lulu was not like this AT ALL when she was little. With Bro, I hardly know when to be the boss or when to let him exert his own independence. On one hand, I certainly am not going to spend my life being bossed around by my children. However, I do think that some of his requests are acceptable. I can see that I will need to catch up on some parenting book reading.

Any suggestions?