Speechless

I haven't blogged in a long time, but I just read all of yours. It was really fun. I actually have a lot to catch up on, but I'm not going to right now.

Spencer sometimes does things that I don't know how to respond to. The other day on his way out of the bathroom I gently reminded him to wash his hands and flush. He replied, "I'm only going to wash my hands because I'm so tired of doing ALL the things you ask me to do."

Possible responses:
philosophically: Who do you think should flush for you?
defensively: Well, I'm tired of doing all the things YOU ask ME to do.
threateningly: You'd better flush or I'll take away your Luke Skywalker.
manipulatively: Do you want to flush now or in five minutes?

I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came. I said nothing. I was glad he chose to wash his hands. Sometimes I get tired of telling him what to do too. I also get tired of deciding split-second how to respond to my children. They're surprising.

One more thing. We drove past some construction workers with big tractors and hard hats. Luke and I thought what they were doing looked impressive, so Luke asked Spencer if he wanted to build stuff like that when he got big. His immediate negative response surprised us. Upon further inquiry, we found it's because Spencer wants to be a Jedi "or something like that." I guess if I were deciding between manipulating a tractor and being a Jedi, I would choose as Spencer did.