Smart ass comments, eye rolling, and threats

You would think, with the title of this post, I was talking about my teenager.  I'm not.  I'm talking about my 4 year old.  Yes, FOUR.  We are already having those conversations that go smart ass comments, eye rolling, and yes, threats!  For the record, they all came from her.  Okay...okay...I may have had one or two smart ass comments in there, but neither of the others!

Charlotte didn't take a nap today.  Sometimes that goes great and she's lovely and then she goes to be earlier than usual (awesome) because she's exhausted.  Sometimes it is hell.  She gets grumpy and horrible.  Today was that time.  She still went to bed earlier, but the in between time was rough.  We were leaving the grocery store and she hadn't been listening very well and then the attitude arrived.  It went something like:

Me:  Charlotte, please buckle your seatbelt, Daddy already asked you two times.
C:  O-KAY lady, I'm doing it, I don't need you to keep telling me. (I have never been known to say any of those things)   ;-)
Me:  Don't talk to me like that, just follow the directions and I wouldn't have to tell you anything.
C:  I'm DOING it, just leave me alone.

This was followed by her just sitting there, saying some mean comments about me or to me.  I finally reached back and buckled her myself which sparked some more rude comments.  I told her that if she said something else she was going to have a time out when we got home.  Out came the next comment.  I let her know she had a time out.  This set off a flip out.  I told her when she calmed down I would talk to her.  She didn't calm down, so I didn't answer her.  

C:  Answer me, Mommy!!!!
Me:  -Nothing-
C:  Moooommmy!!!
Me:  -Nothing-
C:  Mommy, why are you ignoring me!!
C:  (the threatening begins)  When I go to school the next day, I'm going to tell all my friends that you ignore me!
Me:  (smart ass comments)  Okay, I'll tell all of my friends that you were really mean and nasty to me.
C:  Nooooo!!

So mature of me, I know.  Exactly the way to handle awesome parenting - be a smart ass to your child and then wonder where they get it from!

She came home, went to her time out (well, after I caught her playing in the toy room first) and I tried to talk to her about it.  While I was explaining how it hurts my feelings and how I hate having conversations like that with her - she rolled her eyes.  Now, being only 4 I thought, maybe she doesn't realize how rude that is....so I began explaining (YES, yes, MORE explaining - could this be why she couldn't listen to me anymore?) how rolling your eyes send the message..blah, blah, blah.  She just kept doing it.  I left her in time out (only for a few more minutes) when she talked to me with her hands over her eyes (so I couldn't see her rolling her eyes), and the evening continued pretty much that way until she went to bed.  Ugh.

Parenting - it's just, it doesn't end and you NEVER know how to handle it.  And those little boogers, they always turn around what you say and do to make it work for them.  You just can't win.  And I love them to death.  Little pickles.