DS2 4 next week (or Fenton as he is now known) is going through a particularly silly phase.. (I hope). Escaping out of the house and crossing the road (very quiet crescent) before I've managed to get down the stairs so he can "walk to school on his own". Poking the rabbit "because the rabbit was nasty to him"; and, this evening poking his poo in the loo with the loo brush (with an unwiped bum and his trousers round his ankles) and pouring in extra water from the bathtaps (because it wouldn't flush).
I suspect that these are all signs of wanting to be more independent and exerting his "authority" on the next in the pecking order (poor Sir-Hops-A-Lot). But it's wearing me out and I'm not sure I can cope with much more of it. He's very very cross at the moment because he didn't get to go to school this year along with all his friends and he's still in his nursery class which doesn't help.
Please reassure me that this is a normal phase that he's going to grow out of, please 
because I don't think I can afford the gin on a long-term basis.
He knows about being kind to small furry animals, staying safe on the roads and asking for help in the bathroom but it's as if he's acting with his brain switched off! I wish I knew where the on switch was.