Stubborn Mother -> Stubborn Child

So I'm not the neatest of people, as many of you well know. Today I struggled and struggled with my eldest to pick up the family room before we returned upstairs. I don't exactly want my children to be as messy as I am, (not that my parents didn't try to get me to organize!). I find, however, that my stubborn nature has been at least doubled in my children. Perhaps this is a good thing. But the difficulty lies in learning to exercise some control over their stubborness without letting mine overpower their spirits.

When do you do as a three-year-old commands and when do you tell him that he doesn't demand things of his mother? Even Ronan is now shouting at me and pointing his little finger in a very demanding way. It's hard not to laugh when he does this...but I have to restrain myself lest he believe that this behavior is positive. Or do I? It seems everyone has advice for mothers and fathers but when it comes to your own children they often don't apply to the general rule.

I've decided that what I can do is no more or less than what I'm capable of. This to me means that I must continue to endeavor to understand my toddlers ever-changing moods and demands and try to gently shove them in the direction of more positive ways of stating their requests. They will always continue to amaze and infuriate me, but they have such a way of lightening the darkest day. Mixed blessings...but definitely blessings.