Yeah. Well, that little guy is giving Mama some serious attitude these days! Sometimes I feel like he is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Yup. Reuben can be my little snuggler. He wants me to lay in bed by him at night and talk about our day, he gives me kisses like nobody's business, and he runs for "squeezy hugs" before I head out the door for an errand or to the gym! But ... he is also pushing, pushing, PUSHING limits. Seeing how far he can get. Seeing if he will, in fact, get in trouble if he willingly disobeys.
The other week, he was sitting at the table, gargling and gurgling away with his cup of water. And then I looked over and saw him spit some across the table. Not at anyone. Just to see how far he could do it. I told him not to do that again. No spitting water across the table. Not a minute later, the action was repeated. I took his water away. And he started crying. Not silent alligator tears, but screaming, crying, angrily wanting me to notice he was m.a.d. And then while throwing this fit, he crawled under the table, and yelled:
I don't want you to be the ruler.
I want to be the ruler!!!!
And so you have it. Life isn't so perfect for him. He is learning about authority, and joy of all joys, I get to help him learn those lessons! Ahhhhhh, it is a good thing that those lessons don't occur every hour of every day. I get those moments when he obeys right away and is sweet, but my my. He wants to see how far he can go. And figuring out discipline for him is tricky. Time Out does nothing. He is great at self entertainment, so you send him to time out, and just hear him talking to himself, or making up a story. No worries. Whereas Time Out for my social Jonah is like the ultimate form of torture!
I just told my sister today that I want to pick up a copy of a highly recommended book about birth order. I see a lot of "classic" things in Reuben for a second born, and want to do my best to parent him in a way that guides him through it (and me!) in a Godly, proactive manner, not just reactive. I often tell Eli that I think Reuben's gonna give us a run for our money! He has energy and will power to spare, and I want it channeled in the right direction = )
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