(no subject)

School starts tomorrow, not a moment too soon.  Maybe the shortened time together will make it easier, maybe he won't be cranky when he gets home from school, maybe when I have alone time again I'll see things in a clearer light.  Maybe some of the school discipline will rub off on him and he won't say "no" or "but" or "too bad" so much to his parents, the two people in the world that he's supposed to respect.  Yes, I would like him to respect his teachers, and his friends, and in the future, his bosses, coworkers, etc.  But let's start small, yeah?

It's not like we never respected him, so I don't know where he gets it.  Since the day he could point at a certain cup or type of juice or book or toy, we've given him choices and supported his decisions.  And I think, sadly, that this is what makes him think he rules everything.  Somehow, in the choosing of what color cup he wanted, or the food, or the book, he couldn't draw the line between things that he cannot choose.  He cannot choose to disobey me at every turn and say "so what?" when I say I'd like him to pick up his legos.  Maybe if we'd picked everything for him, he would have learned that we make the decisions here.  He's never been good with varying situations.  It's either yes or no.  If one day he has soda then every day he remembers that day he had soda, and why can't he have it today?  There's no negotiating.  So I think that in giving him some choices, he was led to believe he could make ALL THE CHOICES.

Now I understand why people have more than one kid.  So when they totally screw up the first one, they have another chance. Oops.