so i’ve got one kid (dramaqueen) who’s kind of a motherfucker. dramaqueen is the kid who, when i tell him it’s bedtime, looks at me and says, “NO!” and then gives me an expectant grin – like the fun is just about to start. remember now, he’s nearly 4-1/2, so he fully understands that there are consequences to his actions. so i tell him, one more time, sternly, that it’s bedtime, and include the helpful reminder that i start taking away toys for a day when you try to make bedtime your bitch.
huh-uh. YOU are bedtime’s bitch, son.
so. last night, after i tell him to go to bed the second time, he yells, “NO!” with an exquisitely dramatic stomp of one foot, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since 1950 live-action disney movies. and then he starts up the stairs toward bed. “NO! I NOT GO TO BED!” he says this as he actually marches into his bedroom and flops himself onto his bed.
so i’m following him, wondering, i’m pretty sure i don’t have to punish him for this, right? because if the behavior is what he knows i wanted, and the defiance is only verbal, then it’s really just come down to an academic point, right? and how fucked up is it to stand there trying to have an academic discussion with a kid who can barely string a sentence together?
besides, from the gleeful look on his face, i’m pretty sure that if i punish him… he wins.
or maybe that’s just paranoia.
