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The Joys of 4 year olds

...and by joy, I actually mean the exact opposite of that.
JP is a really good kid.  Seriously. I'm not just saying that cause I made him from scratch.  He's pretty rad.
We have our days, tho.  And one of those days just so happened to be yesterday.
He was refusing to listen to me.  Every time I asked him anything or corrected his ridiculously bad behavior, he would either shout "NO!!!" or scream and run into his room.
Extraordinarily frustrating...
After several time outs and lots of yelling from both my son and me, he turns to me after getting out of time out and says, "Stop saying NO to me, mom!  You're being really mean!"
I could feel the anger boiling up into my face.  Where is the well behaved little boy that all his grandparents love?  Where is my fun-loving son who doesn't talk back?  What have I done wrong?!?!?!?!?
Then a teeny voice inside me told me to be calm and ask him to elaborate. (yes, my 4 year old knows what elaborate means...)
I asked, "Who told you that?"  He said he taught it to himself.
Then it kind of hit me like a bolt of lightening.
Every time he asks "Why?" and I don't give him an answer he understands, he thinks I'm being mean and not reasonable. This, folks, is one of the downsides of having a 4 year old who is too smart for his own good.
I told him that mommy always has a good reason for saying no.  Whether it's to keep him safe or healthy, mommy doesn't say no to be mean.
He understood this and the rest of the day was made of gold.
Really?!?!  All I need to do is explain to him why I tell him not to stand on the stroller, or jump from couch to couch, or why he shouldn't kick his sister over, or why he's not allowed to eat fruit snacks for dinner.
And he's completely ok with it. 
Why did I not figure this out a year ago?!?!?!!!

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