What to do....

...when your sweet 19 month old starts using your "mom voice" and your "mom sayings" against you!?

I hear a lot of very loud, angry "NO's!!!!" out of her so we've been working on turning that monster into a sweet "no thank you." And there is measurable success. I have no desire to squash (all) her opinions and I don't mind if she voices her say but it does matter to me that she is polite and kind. Howevvvvvvveeeerrrrr......our "no thank you" practices have turned into something like this:

Me: Evanie, time to go potty.

Evanie: No hanks.

......

Me: Ok Evanie, two more bites and then you're all done.

Evanie: No hanks.

.......

Me: Evanie, 1 more minute and then it's naptime.

Evanie: No hanks.

Awesome. I have to admit, at this point I pretty much have to turn away to hide my smile every time but still...what a stinker!

Tonight she pulled out a new one on me. She's turned into a show watching fiend since I started my final online course because I often have the TV babysit for me. (By often I mean 1 or 2 shows in a day) I don't feel guilty because it's a short term situation and only used when I must, but I'm wondering if I need to find a new system. It's quickly turning every day into one big long-

Evanie: "Show peas mama?"
Me: "Nope, no more shows today!"
Evanie: "Show PEASSSS MAMA!"
Me: "No Evanie, we're all done with shows."
Evanie: "SHOW! SHOW! SHOW! SHOW!!"

Repeat scenario 700 times.

So anyway, we were going through this tonight right before bedtime and instead of throwing the "show fit" she put her little hands on either side of my chin (like I do to her), and very calmly and matter-of-factly said:

Evanie: "Yisten...yisten...yisten mama. Yisten. Show."
Me: "Um, are you seriously telling me to 'listen'?"
Evanie: "Ya. Yisten. Show."
Me: "Unreal..............the answer is still no."

She had the serious face, the raised eyebrows, the no nonsense tone- all of it. I was a little scared.

Thankfully, although Evanie spends most of every day pretending to be a big girl, far bigger than I am ready for her to be....she still sometimes lets me hold her and cuddle her and rub her back and kiss her about 74 times a day. And I've clearly taught her to be a regular kiss dispenser because she now has a routine where she kisses me on each cheek, the chin, the forehead, the lips, and then the nose. I just love it!


Here is my big girl. We were out getting groceries and because I'm a fun mom (or because I feel guilty for being anything BUT a fun mom between daycare, school, and pregnancy!) we stopped a bought a balloon. And because she asked the lady so nicely, we got it for free!


We also found new fuzzy slippers for $3 to keep her toes warm on this winter that wants to last forever.

P.S. I cannot take good pictures, much less great pictures and I'm sorry. It is partially me and partially the camera and I don't know how to upgrade either of us!