Mommy Find, Mommy Do It, Mommy Help, Mommy Play

I try to live by the age-old expression, if you want something done right, do it yourself. I do this while encouraging my child to be independent to do things for himself. When he wants to know where something is I often say, "Go find it." This worked for a while, until he picked up on the fact that if he doesn't want to and he whines long enough about it I'll go get whatever it is for him. Joey has learned that he can try to avoid looking for it altogether simply by saying, "No, mommy find." I hear this simple sentence about 47 times a day.

He has become increasingly lazy in other independent tasks as well. If I want him to pick up his toys, he responds with, "No, mommy keen up." If I want him to do a simple task that he knows how to do (like take off his shoes, wipe his face, or take a bite of food) his response is "Mommy help!" The latest of Joey's not so independent responses is, "Mommy play." No longer does my son go pick up a couple of toys and play by himself. He must have a playmate. And unfortunately for me, that playmate is usually Mommy.

I'm hoping in a few short weeks this stage of "I can't do anything by myself" will wear off and we'll be onto the "Mommy leave me alone" stage. Somehow I doubt that will happen. He is a boy, after all. And we all know that boys can't do anything without the help of a girl...