The infamous magnetic numbers and letters

 I was going through some school supplies and weeding out things we don't need anymore.  Now that both kids can read and write, I decided to get rid of the big bucket of magnetic numbers and letters.  I had them all bagged up and organized and ready to give away, and then Noah discovered them. 

This reminds me of the only time Noah ever seriously challenged my authority. He was two years old.  He was playing around my feet in the kitchen while I was cooking.  I asked him to put all his magnetic numbers back on the freezer (he had taken them all off and strewn them throughout the kitchen).  He put a couple back, but was dallying around, not really doing anything.  After I finished washing dishes and cleaning up everything else, there were still magnetic numbers all over the floor.  I decided that I was not going to get angry (at least not visibly!), but I was going to calmly insist on obedience.  I explained to him that he would not be playing with anything else until those numbers were all back on the freezer.  He started whining about how he couldn't do it and wanted me to help him.  I told him he didn't need any help taking them all off, so he shouldn't need help putting them back.  He stared at me a few seconds to see if I was serious, then pouted and sulked out to the living room to start testing me.  

 He went over to a toy, looked at me, and picked it up.  I took it away and reminded him that he couldn't play with anything until he obeyed me.  He whimpered, “Next time I 'bey you.”   I said, “Yes, and this time too.”  More staring and glaring.  I went to do some laundry while he sulked.  Then I said, “I'm going outside to pick tomatoes.”  He said, “I go too!”  I said, “No, you won't, and you know why, don't you?”  He hung his head and said, “No picked up numbers.”   

When I returned five minutes later, he was waiting by the door and sang out “I missed you, Mommy!”  I said, “I missed you, too!” and noticed that the numbers were still underfoot.  He said weakly, “I in charge” and I said, “No, that is exactly the point I want you to understand.  Mommy is in charge.”  We read several books and snuggled on the couch and then he casually wandered over to his toy space shuttle.  He knew that Nana & Papa were coming over later, so he said “Maybe Nana want see this 'pace shuttle.”  I said, “Yes, I'm sure she would like to see you play with it.  I hope you get to.”  Then he picked it up and started playing with it, saying, “Maybe Nana want see it zoom.”  I took it away, but privately admired his clever attempt.   

More whining, crying, begging.  I prayed with him and asked God to help him obey.  He said he wanted to take a nap.  Right before he went to sleep, he said, “Maybe after nap, then I pick up those numbers.”  When he woke up, he wandered over to his doctor kit, glanced at me, and picked up the stethoscope.  I said, “You know you can't play with that yet.”  Good try.  More snuggling on the couch, more requests for help, more denying that he can do it himself.  Finally, he asked if I would watch him do it.  So I watched him pick them up, one by one, and put them back on the freezer.  Then I gave him a big hug and said, “Remember this next time.  When you get things out, you'll have to put them away.”  He said, “Mommy proud?” and I said I was very proud of him.  He said, “Jesus proud?” and I said Jesus was definitely proud and then said, “Aren't you proud of yourself?  Doesn't it feel good to make a good choice and do the right thing?” He said yes and was just beaming.  The rest of the day was great.  I think he was actually glad I proved that I'm in charge.