kate the contrarian

It doesn't matter what the action is, exchanges with Kate always go like this:

Me: C'mon Kate, time to take Erin to school.
Kate: I don't WANT to take Erin to school!

Me: Bath time, girls.
Kate: I don't WANT to take a bath!

Me: Time to go to the park, girls.
Kate: I don't WANT to go to the park!

And, each time, if John or I reverse the task and say, "ok, we won't go to the park," she says, "But I WANT to go to the park!"

"Jammies time."
"I don't WANT to wear my jammies."
"Ok, no jammies."
"I WANT them!"

It's entirely like the arguments between Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd on the many episodes where Bugs and Daffy would debate whether it was "wabbit season" or "duck season". And it's good to know my excessive childhood cartoon-watching has come in handy as a parenting tool.


John sometimes asks her, "Kate, are you a contrarian?"
"No, I'm NOT!" she replies as John giggles. But this morning when he asked her this she thought about it a second and responded slowly, "Yes, I'm a con-trar-i-an." And a cute one at that.