"I can do it by my own self!"

Simon is a fiercely independent child. Attempting to help him with anything, big or small, almost always ends with this:

"I can do it by my own self!"

For a while now, he's been climbing into his high chair and he's quickly learned how to get on and off the potty without injuring himself. If you do the injustice of helping him with something, like getting him into his car booster seat, he will have a fit until you back away and let HIM do it. If you somehow manage to get him in the booster seat, he'll climb out and then climb back in - it HAS to be on his terms.

Harmon was never like this so this is new to us. Recently, we saw a note in our church newsletter for a seminar about dealing with your strong-willed child. We mentioned it to each other, looked at him and thought, hmmm, I wonder if we could learn anything from that!

I'm sure this trait will serve him very well later in life but, at this point, it can be tough on us. While he thinks he's 5 like his big brother, he's only 2 and we would like to enjoy him being 2 and, maybe, you know, needing us A LITTLE BIT!