The Terrible Two's

William is at a very difficult age right now.  I have a feeling this is where a lot of parents give in and start letting their kids run the show, because it is exhausting to just keep fighting.  For instance, this morning when I dropped him off at daycare, William was so whiney.  He wanted cereal, and I told him he had to ask nicely.  He knows that means saying please, so he walked over to Miss Christy, and snapped/growled a please at her.  I stepped in before she could say anything and told him that was not asking nicely.  Then he tried to avoid the issue by saying he was tired, and followed me around whining at me while I put Joy's things away.  Finally, I told him I wasn't enjoying his whining, and I left the room, and he burst into tears (I went next door to the toddler room to put his things away).  When I came back in, I sat down and made him look me in the eye and quit crying, told him that he can't whine to get his way, and made him say sorry.  Then I cuddled him on my lap for a minute and sent him back over to Miss Christy to ask nicely for cereal.  This is a typical scenario for William now, and it is so tiring, and even when it ends with him doing what he was supposed to, I still feel so defeated when it's over.  We're also dealing with the back talking issue, now.  It seems to be a difficult concept for him to grasp: it's ok for us to tell him no, but he can't do that to us.

Lucky, he is still an absolutely adorable kid and it is so much fun watching him try new things.  Yesterday, I was pushing him in one of the bucket swings at the playground, and he said, "No mommy, don't help.  I push!"  And then proceeded to hit the front of the swing with his hand in an effort to "push" himself.

I love my boy.  And I have a feeling that if we can endure and get through this phase, we're going to have one of the sweetest, most polite little boys ever.