No way, no how!

Here's a recent frustrating conversation between Biscuit and me.

Me: "Come see Daddy on TV, Biscuit." (Jeff was covering a college basketball game that night.)

Biscuit: "No, Mom. Dad not TV."

Me: "Yeah, he's at the basketball game. Want to come see?"

Biscuit: "No, Mom. Dad not basketball. Dad wuk." He doesn't get that Jeff's work is basketball.

Biscuit has been asserting his own opinions lately - sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. Although, it would be safe to say that the bad way doesn't get him very far! On some topics, he can argue all he wants, and he still won't get his way. And boy does he hate it when that happens.

We went to the zoo Sunday afternoon (more on that in another post), and Biscuit argued with me about some of the animals.

Me: "Look Biscuit, a seal!"

Biscuit: "No, Mom. That dolphin."

I don't think there are seals in any of his animal books, so I could understand that one. But still, it's hard to know when to let things go and when to correct him. It turns into a "pick your battle" situation. Figuring he'll learn the difference between seals and dolphins at some point, I didn't push it. But then later that evening when I was showing him the pictures I took that day, he said, "Look, Mom. A seal." So not pushing it was the right call.

The other frustrating part of toddlerhood is his love of the word "no." He uses it quite freely.

Bath time ... no. Dinner time ... no. Bed time ... no.

I think those are pretty common to most toddlers. But Biscuit has some others that are just him being stubborn.

The other evening when we got home, I reached down to unzip his coat, and he grabbed the front of his coat with both his hands. "NO, MOM. WANT COAT ON!" We were home for the evening, and he walked around for about half an hour with his coat still on.

One morning he was eating pancakes (with pancake sauce, of course), and I tried to push up the sleeves of his pajamas, so he wouldn't get them sticky. "NO, MOM. WANT SLEEVES DOWN!"

Ugh! Did you see the scene in "A League of Their Own" when Tom Hanks' hands were shaking in front of him as he tried not to throttle one of the more clueless players? That's exactly how I feel sometimes.

So short of shaking him, I guess I'll just keep trying to pick my battles. But just in case, does anyone have the ZIP code for Outer Mongolia?!?