My son, the 3-year-old lawyer

I am a stickler for rules, within reason. I am the type of driver who grumbles at everyone else’s minor traffic sins, even though I find myself adopting a more casual attitude to my own driving recently. I am trying to be less concerned with the rules other people are ignoring, because there’s no value in being angry with the whole world. But still, the rules are the rules. I was not prepared, however, for my 3-year-old to become so adept at logical reasoning and persuasive argument that I find myself outmaneuvered. That fellow is clever. We were sitting on the couch this morning. I was checking  my email and twitter feeds on my iPhone while he was watching Mickey Mouse  Clubhouse,  and I started singing along with ‘the hot dog’ song. It’s very catchy, I assure you. The little dude  interrupted my singing and told me to stop. When I asked why I should stop, he explained it to me. “You’re playing your game, so it’s not fair for you to interrupt the show I’m watching.”I’m paraphrasing (it was early in the morning, pre-coffee, so my recollection is fuzzy) but that was the gist of it. It was a well-thought out argument built on existing rules and earlier precedent. I stopped singing immediately.
He also has an outstanding decree against all participatory singing along. When ever the wife or I try to sing along with a song on the radio, or to one of the little dude’s cds, we get a very cross look from the boy and the admonishment “Dad/mom, stop singing.” Evidently, he believes that only the performer should be singing and the audience should listen. I have tried to voice the counter-argument about singing along making you feel happy and fun, but in my heart I agree with him, so I usually shut up. If he likes the music enough to want everyone else to be quiet, then who am I to stifle that? I will still belt out a song just for the sake of it, even if he complains. I have to have some fun too.

In unrelated news, we’re still waiting for a bunch of things to happen. I’m still waiting for my ebook to get approved for distribution on itunes/amazon,  the wife is still waiting for job news,  I’m waiting for payment for  a bunch of magazine articles I’ve written, we’re all waiting for money to be less tight than it is.Lots of waiting=lots of stress.