One person's recalcitrance...

One of my gal pal's described her 3 year old as recalcitrant, which incidently is a word I haven't heard in ages but is absolutely terrific, and I can only say that one person's recalcitrance is another's obstinance. Everyone always talks about the terrible twos and my mother has mentioned the trusting threes but really I think it's the trying threes.
The preschooler's vocabulary has come such a long way and I can actually hold a conversation with him. However, it also means now he won't SHUT. UP. Don't get me wrong there are times when it's adorable and so funny but when it is the umpteenth time about the tracks and trains or what happened to the cars when we're at a stop light, I want to beat my heads against the windshield! But the obstinance is unreal! Yesterday, the preschooler and the DH and I all had a battle of wills.
The preschooler went into the den and touched the laptop which he knows he's not allowed to.
DH told him not to and of course he did it again. He then refused to apologize or give Daddy a hug. I backed up my DH and took the preschooler to the living room where I told him he could apologize or give up his toys and TV. Needless to say, he sat on the sofa with me for the better part of 20 mins. I kept explaining to him why what he had done wrong and that sweet little well behaved boys listen the first time they're told something and apologize when naughty. I could get him to say sorry to me and to say he loved me and the toddler. But every time I asked him if he wanted to apologize to Daddy and give him a hug, he said no! I told him the longer he refused, the longer he would go without toys and TV. After 20 mins, I got him apologizing to Daddy but out of earshot. It took a lot of prompting but finally he apologized and hugged my DH. Dear lord! This stubbornness now....oh eff! I'm really in for it. And I could have sworn that the toddler was the stubborn one. Apparently, it's both.
But what should I have expected. Anyone who knows me, or my DH for that matter, knows that stubbornness existed in this house long before either kid came along. He and I both have a stubborn streak. My mother has been described as stubborn as a mule and my dad as stubborn as a camel. They got together and got me---some crazy cousin to a dronkey (a camule or mulmel).
The tween and teen years are going to be oh so fun! Thank heavens for sports--they can go run themselves ragged, come home to do homework, and go to bed for 5 years!