May I Take Your Order?

My girl is B-O-S-S-Y.

It's actually funny. I mean the nerve this two-year-old has is just, well, actually admirable. She knows what she wants. But my goodness, I see how if you don't curb it now, you can really create a monster.

Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet, sweet girl and often quite compliant; but when she doesn't want to be bothered, she tells me to "Push it." "Mama, push...mama, push it." Are you kidding me? I birthed you, child—and that was the last bit of pushing I am doing for a good long time.

And when she is in boss hog mode, she spews order after order after order. I know this is par for the toddler course. I get it: she is learning to affect her environment, she's testing boundaries, she's establishing her place in a world she is just waking up to and she needs me to get things and do things for her—that's part of my job.

So, mamas and papas, I am calling out to you for some parenting advice or at least commiseration here. How much ordering is too much ordering? When do you say "no" and why do you say "no?"

When does empowerer turn to enabler?