I'm NOT a good eater!

Steve has taken Ryan to his preschool field trip at the farm and Caitlin is napping. Ahh. Will see how long the quiet lasts!

Ryan has developed a (yet another) strange little foible and I'm trying to figure out how to respond to it. Sheesh, parenting is a big job full of learning by the day/hour/minute/milli-second. Once upon a time I thought that self growth and personal development would be out the window once I became a mum, now I realize it had only just begun that fateful day after yoga class when the stick I peed on had 2 lines on it. That fateful moment also seemed to mark the end of my 'serious' yoga practice, but that topic is for another time.

So here's an example:
Mummy: "Ryan, please walk on the sidewalk, get out of the neighbors' gardens!"

Ryan: "Yah, well I'm not a good eater!" (as he continues to run in the neighbors flowers.)

other examples:
Mummy: "Ryan, please pick up your toys, wash your hands before dinner, take your shoes/coat/hat off, stop bugging your sister, wipe your bum, don't kick that soccer ball in the house, stop driving your cars on the newly painted walls, no playing hockey on the hardwood floors, etc etc etc." (Insert admonition of the moment here, there are millions of them. Ever feel like all you do is nag your child?? AND he doesn't hear any of it!)

Ryan: "Yah, well I'm not a good eater!" He continues to do whatever it was he was doing.

HUH? I'm not a good eater? WTF? Now here's the weirdest part... Ryan IS a good eater! Always has been. Eating has never been an issue here. I'm baffled. He seems to think that anytime I'm asking him to do anything it means he's a bad boy=bad eater. I'm not saying that. But clearly there is something going on here, I'm saying something that he's processing in this way.

His buddy Connor has also taken to saying this, and I note that it began right after a playdate with Connor. What are these 2 little 4 yr olds up to? Guess I can't assume they have thought anything out about this, they tend to just FEEL at this stage and react accordingly. So mummy needs to adjust her responses/requests somehow. But how?

Now Caitlin wails and my coffee is cold (yet again). Perhaps the thunderbolt of insight will strike while I'm feeding her. More likely the 'thunderbolt' of forgotten errands, tasks to complete, what to cook for dinner, will strike, but one can always hope!