You Say Stubborn, I Say Decisive

Mandy arrived to pick Maddox up from preschool to find him sitting by himself, not participating in the end of the day recess. Upon speaking with his teacher she learned that he didn't want to clean up his station after table time. The rules are- if you don't listen to Miss Linda you have to sit out. Miss Linda had been forewarned that Maxie can have a bit of a stubborn streak, but this was her first time actually seeing it put into action. She said that he pretty much sat out most the day, very calmly replying, "Nope." each time she would ask him if he was ready to clean up.

Mandy: "Maddox did you have a bad day?"
Maddox: "I did."
Mandy: "How come?"
Maddox: "Because I didn't clean up my station."
Mandy: "Why didn't you clean up your station?"
Maddox: "Because I didn't want to."

On the car ride home Mandy explained how important it was to listen to Miss Linda if he didn't want to sit out again. Maddox readily agreed that he did like school and that he wanted to listen to Miss Linda. He made it very clear that he didn't want to be naughty. Yay! parental victory. The next day in hopes of reinforcing the lesson that had been learned from the experience Mandy initiated the conversation once again:

Mandy: "Maddox, you have school tomorrow, are you going to be a good boy?"
Maddox: "I am!"
Mandy: "Are you going to listen to Miss Linda?"
Maddox: "I am!"
Mandy: "Good boy!"
Mandy walks away once again feeling a satisfying sense of victory in the parenting department when a little voice speaks out:

Maddox: .............."But I'm not gonna clean my station."