I don't know if there are words that adequately describe just how strong-willed Mila is. Her absolute focus on getting her way is going to serve her very well through life. Later. Eventually. Ahem.
For now, it entertains the heck out of me.
Am I not supposed to laugh when a 2-year old refuses to get out of the car unless the right person is the one unbuckling her? Because I do. She will push everyone away until she gets what she wants. By the way, when she pushes people away, she literally says, "I push." She knows she shouldn't do it, but she doesn't care. Mila owns her rule-breaking ways.
It's physically impossible to get Mila to sit nicely in a shopping cart. I've tried bribery, electronics, snacks, begging, paying her, all sorts of things. She's just not going to do it, which is fun since there are a fair number of Target shoppers who like to glare at me because Mila stands in the back of the cart. There is absolutely a chance that she will fall over at any time, but it's better than letting her roam free in the store. She's like a hungry lion checking every shelf for prey when she's on the loose.
My new favorte Mila-Will-Get-Her-Wayism is how she handles her need to go to the playground when we're at cheer practice. Cheer practice is generally a guaranteed time to play, but every once in a while, I have errands to run. I try to drag Mila into the car so we can get moving, but she's all, "You so crazy." She stands her ground really well, but this week she upped her game.
"I be right back," she said. She said it approximately 13532414 times as she continuously walked towards the playground. I kept saying, "We need to go," and she kept saying, "No. I be right back."
I would approach her to pick her up and she would raise her hand and declare, "I be right back" and then run away. Once she "I be right backed" her way to the playground, she managed to play at every corner as I followed her around.
It was pretty genius, if you think about it.
Which, um, it was pretty genius. She's two. It's going to be super challenging helping her figure out how to channel her superpowers for good and not evil as she gets older.