I'm actually a research psychologist, so I don't do therapy or work with adults. My husband teaches developmental psychology. I used to nanny and have a wide range of childcare experience, so I have a very good sense of how different, and exhausting, our oldest is. His area of peak interest is social and interpersonal stuff (motives, causation, etc.) so he's always "on" and there's no way to get away from people doing things that sparks his interest.
It's funny, and terrifying, that you brought up manipulation, because he excels at it. He learned to lie before 2 and is now a pro. He - in very positive ways - has learned that he can get his whole class to do what he wants (Reggio programs are child-driven), which has shocked his teachers. They actually love it, as he has gotten a lot of the kids interested in the alphabet, writing their names, etc. because that's what he wants to do. He will try to get us to help with his chores by framing it as a pro-social, communal activity.
Working on manipulation is definitely a topic that we will continue to work on!
Little buggers are so cute and smart. But we did not get to skip potty training. Don't feel like you missed out!! LOL!
