Behaviorial Issues

So Ben, lovely child that he is, is getting a little out of control. Now, I know that most of these issues are our (my husband and I) problem and that we encourage them, but lately, wow, there are no real words. So let me tell you about his latest...

Lately, Ben has been picking up words and phrases. Now most of the time this is so cute, like when he says "Oh Man!" in frustration, or even, although this one is borderline "That's crack Dad, that's crack" (he means crap which is why it's borderline but he says it with such seriousness that it's hard not to giggle) Now I know that you can't laugh as it will encourage them, but boy do you need to fight it sometimes. One time I needed to run into the kitchen because I was having such a hard time chocking back the giggles. When Ben saw my shoulders shaking he asked what the matter was and Brian told him that I was crying. But then there are times that I definitely don't feel like laughing.

Ben is big enough now to help himself when he wants something now, and as much as I love his independent nature, knowing that I'll never need to push him to take the next step, this is killing me. He no longer asks when he's hungry or thirsty but will just go to the fridge and help himself, usually with a minimum of spills. Now I'm sure some people are saying "Hey that's great, why are you complaining?" the problem is that instead of eating his lunch or drinking all his milk, he'll go get something he wants more, that and his little sister, Mackenzie, is crawling now and will pick though the garbage so we like to keep the kitchen off limits but he'll take down the gate and (obviously) not put it back up, creating an issue. So the other day, I went into the kitchen to discover him standing on a chair in front of the freezer, trying to get himself waffles. Now, he still had breakfast sitting on the table, he just decided that he wanted something different. So I took him from the kitchen and told him no waffles, his breakfast was on the table and he needed to finish that before he got anything else. Well, he threw a tantrum! The whole thing culminated in Ben looking me dead in the eye and yelling "Make me my freaking waffles, Mommy!" and then slapping my butt! Needless to say I was speechless and he was in his bedroom on timeout for a while. However, this whole thing has had an unfortunate side effect, when I told Brian, he nearly peed his pants laughing and now he's forever slapping my butt and whispering "Make me my freaking waffles" before retreating to a safe distance. All I have left to say is "Sigh."