"You Can't Say No to Me"

My son is currently in time out, reciting, "You can't so no to me. Momma can't say no to me. Daddy can't say no to me. Susan can't say no to me."

But he isn't whining. He isn't hateful. He is saying it as matter-of-factly as he would say, "Spaghetti is good." Or, "I like monkey."

Here's how this encounter started.

I told Sam we needed to take a shower. He said, "No, not yet. Watch monkey."

I said, "No we have watched enough monkey. We need a shower so we can go shopping."

He said, "You don't say no to me, okay?"

I said, "I'm your momma and I'll tell you no any time I please."

He said, "No, you go to time out. Don't say no to me." Again, as matter-of-factly as he would say anything else.

I said, "Get in time out. Now."

He calmly walks over to his rug, gets it out, and sits down on it. Then stares at me like, "Momma, this is awkward. I'm not sure what the problem is."

I ask him after a little bit what he did to get in time out. He says, "You tell me no."

I said, yes and what else?

He points his finger at me and gets a really serious face and says, "You don't tell me no, okay?"

So I said, "You'll be in time out until you can tell me that Sam doesn't say no to momma and that Sam doesn't put Momma in time out and that Sam does what momma says. Okay?"

He said, "Nope."

I realize it was a bad mommy move on my part to giggle... but it was funny. This is one of the few times where he hasn't been bratty or whiny or anything. He is just so dry with his responses that it is hilarious... all the while SITTING IN TIMEOUT!

So I just let him sit there until he was so bored he couldn't stand it. Then I asked again, "Why are you in time out?"

He says, "You tell me no."

I said, "Yes, but what did you say to momma?"

He said, "Momma go to time out."

I said, "And we don't tell momma to go to timeout do we?"

He says, "No."

I said, "And we don't tell momma not to say no do we?"

He say, "Nope."

I said, "And we definitely do what momma says, don't we?"

And all on his own, "Yes mom."

That was 15 minutes well spent :-)