Argumentative three year old

[Casmie]

Okay, I'm ranting on here so I don't rant at my 3 year old (4 in May) as he's DRIVING me COMPLETELY INSANE today.

He keeps asking me stuff (like "what's this letter, mummy"?) and then when I tell him he starts arguing why I'm wrong and it's something completely different - often invoking another authority "but J says..." (favourite nursery worker) or "but DADDY told me..." (when it's fairly obvious that they didn't - I'm confident my husband knows which way up the letter i goes, for example).

I'm just about managing to back away and think "mmm .... whatever" as there's no point in getting into the argument and he's already heard the "answer" from me. Please tell me he's not the only kid doing this so I don't turn around in a minute and scream "then F*ing ask Daddy then and leave me alone!" at him.

Nope, just me then, obviously

No. he's not the only one. I get it from DS1 (nearly 7) and DS2 (4). DS1 has a particular friend that comes out with the biggest load of rubbish ever, and nothing I can say can persuade him that this child wrong. It makes me too, but I try really hard to just leave it....

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DS (4 in feb) tells me I'm wrong about various things because XXX says so ... XXX is all of 4.5 .. but oh no he knows so much more than I do

He's now telling me exactly how I'm "allowed" to play cars. "No mummy, it doesn't WORK like that..."

scream

I think it's just one of those days where mummy is easily wound up I will not be cross I will not be cross.

Think you're right secur - I think he's got confused along the way. Will try to be more patient.

I just remember everyone telling me that it was great with young children because they looked up to you as someone who knew EVERYTHING! Hmm... think we missed that stage in my house, I obviously know NOTHING

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I'll be fine tomorrow - I just seem to be in my less than patient mode today!

Glad to hear that it sounds like a "normal" (whatever that might mean) stage though, thank you

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Have given up for the day and put his dinosaur video on (walking with dinosaurs - bad mummy - still, it doesn't seem to scare him and he LOVES being the dinosaur expert).

Grabbing a cup of tea and a mumsnet in relative peace

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ooo godzilla...

I used to like the cartoon as a kid... wonder if it's still available!!!

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fantastic! Might have to look for some variety in ds1's viewing. Currently normally stuck on Aladdin or Muppet Christmas Carol!

(Although I sing along to the latter and it drives him NUTS... so comedy value in that ... bad mummy bad mummy)

Casmie we had the "mummy knows everything stage" but its well past now. DS used to come home from nursery where they'd been singing a new song and ask me to sing it. Then refused to believe I didn't know it.

I'm regularly corrected now. Think this is the start of the phase where the opinion of their peers becomes more important than Mummy You're just supposed to be there in the background for when they need you.

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You could have been writing about my My DS (4 in April)who is the expert on EVERYTHING, especially letters of the alphabet. He's even started playing DH and I off against each other (but mummy says it's OK to climb up the chest of drawers, daddy). He also flat out refuses to hold his pen/pencil properly when drawing or writing, even though he does know how to do it and apparently writes correctly at the childminder's. IMO, it's all part of the dependence/independence thing, especially as he told me today in no uncertain terms that he had no wish to learn to read or write because he wanted mummy to tell him stories forever and if he could read his own books she wouldn't read to him any more!

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"THe same qs get asked all day about everything then again and again and again just in case the answer i gave the first time was wrong"

Oh god YES

I get asked the question 50 times, then he asks dh. Most of the time dh just answers "what did Mummy say?" (as he'd been in earshot during the conversation) and ds1 genuinely doesn't appear to have a clue - just seems to want to ask questions repeatedly for one purpose and one purpose only: driving mummy up the wall.

Decaf: we get the playing off each other as well, but he's not quite got the guile to pretend one of us said the reverse.

ds1: "Daddy, can I do X?"
dh (well aware ds1 had just been talking to me): "What did Mummy say?"
ds1: "She said no"

He'll learn

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ds1 gets excited about trips to Homebase. He even says "OH WOW!"

Is that a terribly bad sign?

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No lift that I've seen I don't think - but he likes going upstairs (the kitchen/bedroom/etc showrooms are up there). He thinks it's a special treat when we go up there