Just How Stubborn Is He?

In this installment, I find out how long it takes for a three-year-old who is used to adults cleaning up after him to do it himself.  It is pretty ugly.

This afternoon just before lunch, my almost-three-year-old stood on a table and dumped out about six plastic containers of toys onto the floor.  Then he tossed all the pillows off the sofa.  His cousin was there with him. He got excited and dumping stuff was fun.  It wasn’t anything mischievous or foul, just his thing.  99% of the time someone cleans up for him.  This time (and a few times in the past) I asked him to clean up his own mess.  I resolved that I would wait him out no matter how long it took.  I wanted to see how long he could hold out before putting up the white flag and beginning to clean up….

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The Lost $100 Gift Card and the Tears of an 8-Year-Old

One time my 8-year-old son won $2 from his grandpa for a tackle he made at the football field.  When he got home, he took off his football equipment and went to play.  He left the $2 on the floor.  I told him to take his money up to his room.  He said okay, kept on playing and forgot.  I reminded him 10 minutes later, and he still didn’t do it right away and forgot again.  I reminded him a third time and told him that if he had to be reminded again, he would lose the money. Ten minutes later, he lost the money.  I was angry and he cried about the money he wasn’t getting back.

The dry face of an 8 year old

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