I have a confession to make, hold on to your hats, it's a big one. I've been threatening Sawyer with "the cops"...doooohhh! I know, what kind of mother am I?! It all started when our neighbor's son got taken away by the police (awhile ago), and my kids asked me what he did. I jokingly said, "maybe he was being mean to his mom", and it stuck in little Sawyer's head. So over the past year or two, I've been using this to my advantage, more so recently, since school has been out. It just seems that I always have to be extreme with him, in particular, for some reason. Like when he was two, we were driving down Sweet Water Road (a main road that leads to our home, but not a "busy" road) and Sawyer decided to un-buckle himself in the car. We told him he better buckle himself up or he will walk the rest of the way home. His response was, "ok, I'll walk". Bob and I looked at each other smiling as Bob pulled the truck over on to the side of the road, thinking that this action would scare him into buckling himself back up. Nope, out jumped Sawyer onto the side of the road, with a wave of his little hand, saying, "you can go now, I'll walk home!" We drove forward a few several yards, thinking he would start to scream in terror, but nope, he started screaming for us to leave so he could walk home...alone. Yeah, that brilliant plan worked for our other 2 kids, but not Sawyer. Anyway, I have tried everything to get him to obey me, and stop throwing fits if he doesn't get his way. So one day during a temper tantrum, being as bright as I am and at ends wit, this is how it went down:

Sawyer: Screaming because I wouldn't give him any of "mommies special treat" (chocolate) after finding it in it's hidden place. "Fine, I'm taking my pants off!" (As if that would really get to me)

Me: "Fine, take your pants off, but you'll have to put them back on all by yourself because we are leaving in a few minutes."

Sawyer: "Hmmph"...yanking his pants off. "Ah-ha, I took my pants off!"

Me: "Now put them back on, we're leaving."

Sawyer: "No! You have to help me now."

Me: "Sawyer, I just warned you not to take them off or you'll have to put them back on...all by yourself, so put them on!"

Sawyer: "I need help!!"

Me: "Um, Sawyer, you just took them off by yourself, so you can surely put them back on by yourself, now hurry up, we're leaving!"

Sawyer: Screaming, again, "No I can't!!!"

Me: "Put your pants on or I will call the cops and tell them you're being mean to your mom."

Sawyer: Paused to look at me, making sure I wasn't kidding, then dropped to his bum and yanked those pants on faster than I ever could! "ok mommy! I put them on, don't call the cops!"

I know, he will probably need therapy in the next several years, but so far, this method is STILL working. Sure, he has tested me to see if I actually would, and I have had to call the police (it was officer Bob aka Dad), but he stops and begs me to tell them he'll be good and not to come. Don't underestimate me, I tell him EVERY time that the police are nice people who just don't like it when people and kids are mean to other people, especially their moms. So far, he hasn't run away screaming whenever he sees a police officer. He actually waves to them...maybe he's trying to butter them up for the next phone call. :)