Supper Nanny...Are You Out There?

See this kid? Looks pretty innocent doesn't he?! For the past week and a half, this child has challenged my patience and parenting skills more than I could have imagined.

Where do I even start? He and I went up to the Outlet Mall to pick out some clothes for my niece's birthday. I was at the front of the store flipping through tank tops and I look over and see Brett standing right by the front door with a look on his face. You know, the one where you can tell they are thinking, yep, I'm going to run...try to stop me. Sure enough, the kid blots out the door and runs down the sidewalk at full speed. The little bugger is quick. I caught him five stores down and he starts laughing. It's all I can do to keep my composure - I was so mad!

His other issue? Not listening. I know he hears me and understands me, but quite frankly, he doesn't give a crap what I've got to say. So, he's been spending a lot of time in his room. When he doesn't listen, he loses a toy (or 8) and then has to go to his room. This worked the first couple times but now do you want to what happens now? You put him in his room, take his books and walk out of his room and shut the door behind him. He then walks out of his room (without permission) and laughs. So, I grit my teeth, walk him back to his room and he says, "what are you going to take next?" I respond and then he says, "what about next time, what are you going to take then." OMG!!
What. A. Challenge.

Thank God it seems to be making a turn for the better. Today, he's been a sweetheart. Starting the day telling me "Mom, you're the pretty in the whole world."