He's got games

Aspen, can be SO manipulative! He is incredibly witty and smart, maybe too smart. Here's an example...

Lately, Aspen's new thing has been to try to make us feel guilty when we get frustrated with him. Mark came home after a long day of work, we were all sitting down to eat (translate - it was a bit chaotic around here), and I asked Aspen to bring some forks to the table. He came and sat down without the forks. Slightly irritated, Mark asked Aspen to go get the forks.

Aspen responded with, "Dad! Why are you so mean to me? You've been gone ALL day, and then you come home and are SO mean to me!"

Argh! See? So manipulative! That boy keeps us on our toes, I tell ya.

Mark doesn't remember much from his childhood, but he does remember being manipulative. Aspen isn't able to get anything past his Dad. He wrote the book on manipulation, after all! I'm so thankful, because I'll admit, I have a harder time recognizing when he is being manipulative and when he is being genuine.