Noah, almost 3 years old, has had a few issues with babysitters in recent days. Last night I reminded him of how important it was for him to obey while he sat on the potty and I gave the baby a rushed bath. We were headed out to a dinner and she was coming with us.
“Noah, Momma and Daddy are going to a meeting. Aunt Katie and Aunt Krissy are staying with you all. You’ll have a good time. You must obey and not argue or fuss.”
Immediate tears,”No! I want you and Daddy. I don’t want to stay.”
“Buddy, you cannot come tonight. I’m sorry. It’s going to be late and you need to go to bed before we get home. But you’ll have taco salad here with the aunts and some play time and maybe watch a movie. You must go to bed with no fighting and say, ‘yes, ma’am’. Can you obey? It helps Mommy when I’m away to know you are trying to obey.”
Continued tears, “No, Mommy. The Bible says I must obey you and Daddy but not anyone else!”
I’m quite sure I scraped my chin up off the floor after that response! “Noah, if I tell you to obey the aunts and you do not then you are actually disobeying me.” Long silence followed as I scooped the wet baby out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. He never responded though he was super jolly with no tears as we left about 15mins later.
After bedtime I received this text: “Noah was an obedient, sweet boy all night and right into his bed with his penguin.”