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Ethan has been opening his little mind to a world full of great big metaphors. 

The other day we had a particularly taxing day in the disciplinary arena.  When my husband finally got home, he asked Ethan if he had been a good boy for mommy.  To which Ethan replied, "No.  I was mean to her."

"How mean?"  Daddy asked.

"I broke her straw."  Ethan got close to his daddy and whispered, "She's really upset because she told me over and over again it was her last one."

I was sitting at my computer when I overheard the conversation and couldn't help but laugh.  It was the first time I had used the metaphor with Ethan...You've broken the last straw.

A few days later Ethan was jumping from the couch to the coffee table and back to the couch again.  I was doing the dishes and grinding my teeth when Ethan noticed me.

"Mommy, am I breaking your straw again?"

"Yes, Ethan, you are."

"Is it your last one?"

"No."

"Well, how many do you have left?"

I gaged my patience level and then assessed the intensity of a battle in direct correlation to the risk of a head injury and said, "I have four left."

"Oh, good!"  And, he kept jumping.  When he landed on the dog after the next jump he said, "I know, I know...three left."