Put in my Place by a Toddler

So this past weekend, I was put in my place on more than one occasion by our son the toddler who is flexing his independence muscles in a big way. I cannot even count the amount of time I spent saying "NO!"... I was getting tired of hearing myself speak.

So anyway, he has taking to hitting with a smile. He picked it up from a boy at school-oh joy! So how on earth do we combat that... well I know one thing we don't need to do - and that is wear his butt out. That will only reinforce the hitting he is doing.

So now we are relegated to saying, "Hitting is not nice and it hurts." It is the hardest thing not to smile when saying this to him, he is so darn cute when he is expressing his opinion. So the other day... I repeatedly told him no and he kept testing and testing... pushing those boundaries closer and closer to my breaking point.

So he was around the computer and finally after repeated no's he stepped away and said a few choice words to me in toddler gibberish and swatted his hand and smiled. I looked at him with my sternest face that I could muster and I said to him, "That is not nice behavior, mommy loves you though with all her heart."

I hope he grows out of this phase quickly... only time will tell.