(Insert Maniacal Crazy Laugh HERE....)

Jack,

Okay - so I have to confess something here and it's not something you are going to like.
It's a coping technique and - as a parent - I'm not very proud of it. When you are the parent of a 2 year old that says "noooooooooo" all the time, refuses to do anything you want them to do and only wants you when you absolutely HAVE to go - you can go a little crazy.

So, maybe the field is leveled a little when this same parent doesn't always respond right away when called upon especially if there is a humorous aspect to the request that may not be apparent to that 2 year old.
Example? Well, if you insist....

Maybe that 2 year old has been driving a parent crazy all morning by driving his cars as fast as he can across the floor in the living room and maybe those cars have flown airborn into the parents legs while walking and perhaps the parent was ousted from the couch because that was the driving track for the cars and then a car flies under the couch out of reach! OOOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"I neeeeeeeed heeeeeeeeelp!" "Snotride! MY SNOTRIDE! I Can't reach it!!!"
suddenly my feet seem to be moving slower than normal - like there are big weights on the ends of my legs and the slow movement just increases the panic in the situation because SNOTROD IS STUCK! I CAN'T GET HIM (so I can continue to toss him through the air)! HURRRRYYY!

Don't worry - I rescued your car. I just didn't RUN to do it. A more "evil" example would be when you were piling your stuffed animals Pluto, Garby (Garfield) and Rufus on your push car and racing them across the room to crash into the front door and the back door alternately. When they fell off, you couldn't figure out how to stack them on the car again so they would stay put. I was video taping you at the time and I couldn't help but laugh a little while you declared "Ooooooh noooooooo! Garby fall down!!! Oooooh noooooo! I need heeeeelp!"

Like I said - it's a coping mechanism and one I'm not that proud of, but it's also an acknowledgement that I'm not perfect. But I love you! :)

Love,

Mommy