Case in point - Elliot has a fondness for both the oven and the dishwasher. When he first was able to climb onto the open dishwasher it was cute. I'm sure we clapped - I know we took pictures - but basically we did nothing to dissuade this behavior. Elliot also has an affinity for the knobs on the oven. Scared that he would accidentally turn on the gas, ignite the flame, etc., we removed the knobs. Effective for him, annoying for us. Ah, the joys of childproofing. Currently, he will run to the oven and still try to open it, turn the knobs (or where the knobs were). I will say to him, "Elliot, walk away". After the 2nd or 3rd time, he will run to me for a hug. I love the hug, but unfortunately it's a game to him. He will hug me and then race right back to the oven. This evening he has his foot wedged on the drawer at the bottom of the oven and was attempting to climb it. I must mention that we had just finished baking so the door had to be at least somewhat warm still. "Elliot - danger!"...nothing. "Elliot, please listen to mommy - walk away. Hot!"...nothing. At a much higher volume, "Elliot - no!". This finally got his attention. He at least turned his head at me, but still he went back. Any ideas faithful few followers?
Another case in point (I felt horrible about this one) - I spent this past weekend as a single parent as Sam was out of town for a few days. (TMI coming at ya) I have realized that there are things that you must include your toddler in if there is not a safe place to put him and no other adult in the vicinity. Unfortunately, I had some sort of stomach issues that kept me running to the bathroom. This was fine while he was eating or napping (he was contained then), but became a problem when he was awake. So what's a mommy to do - I took him with me. So there he was, playing with everything he could put his hands on in our bathroom when he spied a gross penny from behind the door. In true Elliot fashion, he picked it up and in even truer Elliot fashion, he gave it to me. I attempted to toss it in the trash but missed and it lodged itself in the funk at the baseboard of our sink. Elliot once again felt it necessary to retrieve the nastiness. I began with "Walk away", which led to "danger", which went to "yucky" and finally ended with a scream from me to get his attention. My poor child sat on the floor of my bathroom with a quivering lip for a few minutes, which then erupted into tears, lots of tears. Tears that could only be helped by holding him...while I was on the toilet. Not my best work but it got the job done. He left the nasty penny where it was.
In addition to attempting to climb the oven tonight, my darling son "the mimicker" mocked his mother. This is where I address the title of this post. In response to "walk away", my son gives me his version of "walk away", with much less annunciation. "Danger" received more of the same. The kid sassed me! I'm so proud that he is learning new words daily and can repeat what I say, but should I be angry that he is mocking me? He tests boundaries and it's hilarious. After being told to "walk away" from the dishwasher, he ran to me for a hug, then returned to knock on the open dishwasher door once, all the while staring at me and going in slow motion. I fought hard to stifle my giggles. This kid is so damn smart it kills me.
It's too soon to expect that a toddler has the ability to listen to me, right? I have learned that I can't reason with him, so I guess I can't be angry. He is, after all, only 16 months old....going on 17 (years)!
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