First, as I’m sure you can understand, it’s to give my children a bit of anonymity and protect them from crazies in the world and on the web. Those of you who know us personally probably recognize he’s my third eldest child and most definitely the one who causes me the most grief.

Case in point. Each child has ‘camp chores’ assigned to them to distribute the work required to keep a campsite looking tidy and our vehicle in a somewhat orderly Let’s talk about Mr. Stubborn’s chores. He is responsible for wiping off the table after every meal and for putting away any food and/or leftovers.

This morning we had pancakes. This means my ‘breakfast food bag’ was out containing baking powder, chocolate chips, oatmeal, sugar, flour, etc. Also out were the butter, juice, syrup, and salt. After breakfast, everyone is to do their chores before going off to play. Mr. Stubborn refused to carry the breakfast food items the twenty or so feet to put them away in the truck. Twenty feet and just a few items my friends. We’re talking maybe five minutes worth of manual labor.

My answer, “That’s fine. You can sit down until you do.” So he does., until which point I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I come back and find him sitting in the stroller one campsite over. That’s right, he’s still sitting because I said he just had to sit down until he did his chore. So he’s following his brother and sister around rolling himself in the stroller with his feet, still sitting.

He does this until lunch. Until lunch friends. Lunch. We are talking about 3-4 hours later and he’s still sitting. He rolls himself in the stroller over to the table and switches to sitting in a chair. Notice he’s still sitting as he politely reminded me.

Once lunch is over the older two tackle the dishes together so they can go play. It’s Miss Drama’s job, but #2 offers to help so she can get done faster. Meanwhile guess where Mr. Stubborn is – that’s right still sitting. Only now there’s more food to put away from lunch – potato chips and bbq sauce in addition to the food from breakfast.

After much deliberation and many attempts at getting me to compromise, he finally capitulates and puts the food away so he can go play. It only took him about 5 minutes to carry the few items from the table to the food tub set next to the truck. Five minutes after hours of sitting down and only being able to observe the other kids playing.

This is only one example of why I call him Mr. Stubborn. One day I see this being a skill useful in resisting peer pressure and leading others but for now it is literally the bane of my existence as a parent. I am most definitely looking forward to the day when he begins using his power for good rather than giving me occasions to learn more patience. ​