As kids get older...

So do we. *sigh*
It was so much easier to handle a 3 year old (and a 1 year old at the same time!) at the age of 28 than it is at the age of 38. My daughter is like this big giant ball of pure energy that never stops. I think I'm going to rename her Sunshine. She is adorable, don't get me wrong. But she KNOWS she's adorable. And how does she know that you may ask? Because her Father tells her so, often. Okay, he doesn't say "adorable", he says "cute", even when she's being naughty.
The other day I caught her in the bathroom (which is not necessarily a bad thing, since we are potty training.) and I noticed that she wasn't back far enough on the toilet, so I told her she needed to scoot back and she said "No, I am going to piddle." And she proceeded to do so.
She probably could have put my 11 year old son to shame with the stream that came out the FRONT of the toilet... all over the seat, all over her panties and shorts, all over the step-stool she uses...her feet...the floor... *sigh*
I tell her that that wasn't very good, that I had told her she needed to scoot back and reminded her that she hadn't listened and that I was upset with her. And you know her response? "No you aren't Mommy, it's okay because I am CUTE." To which I promptly rejoined, pointing at the mess, "THAT is not 'cute', it's gross." She looked down with big saucer eyes and said, "It is?" and then, "It's okay Mommy, be happy."
If anyone out there has seem "Elmo's World" on Sesame Street, our house is a little like that, only not as fun. It's "Kaecee's World". And everything and everyone in it is there for her pleasure alone. She is like a Princess. Or a High Priestess of some Amazon Jungle Community that everyone caters to and bows down to.
She announces everything like it is a royal command. "I need luuu-unch.", "I need to go pooot-tty.", "I can't find my paaas-ssy." And the darned thing is everyone runs to do her bidding. Because we know, that to have Her Highness miffed at us is not a good thing. She can turn the tears on and off at the drop of a hat.
She already knows how to get her brother into trouble without him even coming near her.
(Okay, another story here; Kaecee is on one side of the living room, Chase is on the other, and Tasha, the 13 year old is next to Chase on the couch. They are all watching TV. I am in the front of the house, in the kitchen trying to get dinner fixed and I hear this ear-piercing scream followed by Kaecee yelling, "No Chase, STOP IT!" Me? I am a yeller, I yell alot, they have learned to ignore it- my Husband has not - I yell, "Hey! knock it off back there! Chase! quit making Kaecee scream!" This is answered by more than one person, all three, actually, and the only one I can understand is the 3 year old still yelling at Chase to "stop it". So I go back there. I tell everyone to be quiet. Then I ask my 13 year old what is going on. She informs me that my son was just sitting there watching TV when Kaecee decided to scream. For absolutely no reason what-so-ever, other than an attempt to see if she can get her brother in trouble. She's three.) *groan*
We are all in trouble if she starts asking for sacrifices.
Yesterday she informed me that she hates me. Hates me! Twice! And why? Because I made her get up into "her" chair for lunch. (Her chair is a booster chair buckled onto a regular kitchen chair.) Apparently her royal seat does meet the requirements for her royal bum.
No, really, I know what it is. She has four older siblings. The closest being 10 years old and she is trying to be like them. She wants to do what they do and does not understand that she is too little to do all of it. And it frustrates her. She acts more grown up than the age she is.
Like I said, little Miss Sunshine has way more energy than old tired Mom can deal with sometimes.