Too Smart

My son my be to smart for me. He is going through that I-have-discovered-I-don't-have-to-do-what-mommy-and-daddy-tell-me stage I've heard they go through around 3. It's worse than the terrible twos! Basically he wants to do the opposite of what people want him to do. The funny thing is he seems to be beyond his years in seeing past the tricks I've tried. Either I need to get better at reverse psychology or it just doesn't work with him. He seems to know exactly what I want. Someone suggested I try giving him choices. Been there done that! I say, "Do you want juice or milk with dinner?" and he says "I would like water." Then his mind is set that he will have water or else. We've been doing a lot of the 'or else' lately. It's been hard and there have been several days that he doesn't get dressed because it's just not worth the fight. You may call it giving in, but I call it choosing my battles. Even the lure of going outside doesn't work to get him dressed many days. I'll put the bait out there, but I'm not making it an ultimatum. I think either I'm getting payback for my own stubbornness or God is trying to teach me a lesson in patience.