Ahh, those three little words every parent loves to hear when offerring a determined preschooler assistance, "By myself". I do realize that this is, indeed, only two words but when a spoken by a strong-willed preschooler I believe it classifies as three..."By! My! Self!" This lovely triage of words can drive any well meaning parent into a tizzy. I have the pleasure of listening to this phrase over and over throughout the day when Emme is offerred a hand. For instance, this evening I promised Emme a visit to "Mommy's Nail Salon" post bath if she followed all rules when getting dressed and ready for bed. I know, I am a sucker. But a mom's gotta do, what a mom's gotta do to keep peace under her roof (especially at bed time).
So things went smoothly and Emme was ready for her mani/pedi. I told her to pick out two colors of polish and only two. When she went to open the refrigerator (polish keeps longer there) Clay offered his assistance since she was having trouble. You would have thought he called her a dirty name by the look she gave him - eyebrows scrunched together, lips pursed, nosed wrinkled like she smelled bad cheese. Then those three lovely words..."By! My! Self!" Emme then stuck her bottom out as to block Clay from the refrigerator door. Lord, this little girl.
Just as I was getting ready to scold her for being rude to her dad I had to think, she is a determined little lady. And then I smiled to myself because she had to gain that confidence somewhere, right? Instead, I helped her express her need to do things unassisted in a more polite manner, ("No thank you, I can do it.") and carried on as Mommy the nail tech.
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