Mia has been pretty bossy lately, and while I admire her assertiveness, I am of the view that few things are less attractive than a bossy 3-year-old girl. We are coping with this by suggesting that instead of barking out orders to her parents (or nanny, whom she has also started to boss), she needs to put on her nicest voice and say, "Mom, can you please .....?" If she barks out an order, I have learned the best response is to stop what I am doing, look directly at her, cock my head, and say nothing. When she says, "Please, Mom, can you....?" my standard response is, "Why yes, since you asked so nicely, I'd be happy to put you milk in the sparkly purple cup." (She tries to capitalize on this by asking for candy and cookies, but I'm too smart for that.)
I will admit that I am sometimes impressed by her attempts at persuasion (to put it nicely). Case in point: Last night we were driving in the car and I was practicing my Chinese, repeating after the woman on the CD I got in the mail the other day. Not only would Mia not practice along with me, she made it clear she did not want to listen to me.
Mia: "Mom, stooooooop!"
Me: "I'm practicing my Chinese. Why do I have to stop?"
Mia: "Mom, it's dangerous!"
Me: "That's silly. It's not dangerous!"
Mia: "I am disappointed! I am mad!"
That was enough for me to turn on the Andrew Lloyd Weber Broadway hits album, where Mia requested her favorite song, "By Jeeves."
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