My Toddler is a Jerk

My youngest child, is quite the jerk. (If you know me, you know I have 5 children. *gasp* I know! I must be crazy! Actually I'm very blessed, thank you though for questioning my sanity.) Yes I know, calling your child names is frequently frowned upon, but I call it like it is. He is getting exponentially better at being cute, and adorable, and loving. He's quickly getting to be my favorite. ( I'm sure this will come to bite me in the butt, should my children ever discover my blog, but I've always had a favorite at different stages in my life.)

However this kid stays up, on average, 2 hours later than the rest of my kids, when it comes to bed time. Not quietly either. In and out of his room, with one reason or another, fighting bed time, crying, begging, reasoning why he doesn't want to go to sleep. He argues every "No" he's given. I've had to adopt a routine, where after I repeat my answer for the third time, I ask him if I gave him an answer already. When he replies that I did, I ask him to tell me what the answer was. He repeats it, dejectedly, and then I repeat the answer again. This usually ends the discussion. Not always. It's much better than before, when I'd repeat "No" at least 15 times before losing my $#^+, and yelling at the tyke. Which made him cry, and made me feel like the worst mom EVER. So I adopted the new process. Still a freaking long process, but usually when he starts crying, I don't feel the least bit guilty. So at least that's a win for me! He's stubborn, obstinate, persistent, sneaky, demanding, opinionated, and all wrapped in with a nice little temper to boot.

When he's being sweet, (which thankfully is becoming more common than not), he's so dang cute! He's smart, and funny, and caring, and affectionate, and quite the monkey. I am a pretty chill parent, and prefer to leave the helicopter locked in storage. So when I see him climbing over the top of the swing set at the ballfieks, I chuckle at the other parents looking at me to see if I'm going to freak and get him down. I mean, it is quite the sight to see a not even 4 year old child, straddling the cross beam of a swing set, several feet up from the ground. The thing is, he's got that kind of stuff in the bag. So I don't freak. 

I hope, that as his mother, I will have instilled in him, the right values for him to be persistent about: his qualities have the ability to be an incredible asset to him, that he will be as an ancient oak tree in the middle of the storm. He will be unwavering in his determination, and his desires. He will get what he wants in life, because he is so charming. The blue eyes aren't going to hurt things any either. His qualities however, could be his downfall if he lets pride take control, or his temper, or if he's seen on doing things that would make any mother weep. So, I worry that I will fail this child in particular. My window to mold him in to a good person, is slim. It's closing faster than I'd like. Wish me luck!