Please don't read this post. DON'T DO IT!

As I am sitting here reading my emails, I am fighting my son to actually wash his body while he swims in the tub. I know, seems like a trivial thing, but in my house it is a daily occurrence. Not so much with washing his body, but with most things that he doesn't want to do. My son is the oppitomy of Oppositional-Defiant. Luckily not in an actual disorder kind of a way, but in a "I'm little, and I don't want to" kind of a way. If Jason and I are trying to get him to do something, like wash his body, we have to say (I actually just said this now...) "No, don't wash your body Brendan. I want the pool water to stay on your body. Don't do it!" Now, we say this in a teasing manner. This did it. After 20 minutes of playing in the tub, it finally dawned on me to say that. After almost 5 years you'd think I would have tried that first, but I didn't. So I go in the bathroom, hands on my hips and shake my finger at him in disbelief that he is "tricking" me. That's another way that we try to get him to do something. "Don't trick us and eat that tree... (broccoli)" and sure enough- he does it! Now, for things that we really don't want him to do we use the I MEAN IT tone. Like just now when I told him to brush his teeth. Of course he didn't want to but I told him to quit telling me no or that he would go to time out. He has gone to time out quite a few times. I am beginning to think he actually likes it there. We are waiting for the day that this tactic doesn't work anymore, and he'll just look at us and say "Fine, I won't." Luckily that day isn't today. Hopefully not tomorrow either.