Tweeny

Zac will be turning 4 soon and more and more I'm realizing how much older he is getting. It's like somewhere between 3 and 4 years-old he morphed into a teenager with his own sassy comments and opinions. Here are a couple of examples:

*I went in to check on Zac at 10pm, to see if he was asleep. Not only was he not asleep, but he was sitting on his bed, playing with his flashlight. He looked up at me and asked: "What is it?" like I had turned into the annoying parent who he must tolerate. I stammered, "Uh, nothing. Go to sleep. Good night." "Good night, Mama," he sighed and focused his attention back on his flashlight.

* We've been listening to the same "Wheels on the Bus" CD that we've been listening to in the car every morning for the past eighteen months. It's always the same CD, never anything different. On the way home from work/preschool, Zac wanted to listen to the CD. I can barely stand the music in the morning, especially when Zac orders to me to, "SING!" along. There was no way that I was turning it on in the evening. I told him no and he started negotiating with me. "But I want it," he said. "No. We listen to the CD in the morning, not in the evening. I'm not turning it on." "Please". "No, Zachary," this time with a sterner tone in my voice. "I want to hear a yes from you!" he argued (in my mind I thought, "What the hell? Did he really just tell me what to say?" "No! We aren't listening to the CD." He replied with a much beleaguered, "Awww, man. I'm too sad now".

The last phrase:"I'm too sad now" is one of his favorites. I probably get told that at least 3-4 times a day. Every time I tell him no he gets sad. Fortunately, it's short-lived and within a couple of minutes he's laughing or playing with his cars again. He's still fiercely loyal to his Mama and wants me to be involved in just about everything he does. Occasionally, I wish that he had a sibling or a good friend close by that he could play with. He seems to get lonely playing by himself all the time.

Here's what I wonder, though: if he's this opinionated at almost 4 years-old, what is it going to be like when he's actually a tween? Let's just leave to the side the actual teenager years, since I've already admitted that I'm not sure what I'm going to do then. I might start hiding in my room. Avoidance is a good parenting technique, right?