We raise 'em sassy here

Nicholas hung a "no girl's allowed" sign on his door. I told him Ellie was a girl and asked if she could come in. He said, "No girls allowed." I told him I was a girl and asked if I could come in. He said, "The person that cleans my room can come in when it's messy."

Nicholas and Eliana were fighting over her pony toys. I told him to give the pony back. Nicholas told me, "I don't want to hear any more of your noise in my ears."

Eliana has a disgusting habit of drinking the bathwater. This morning I told her that drinking bathwater would make her tummy sick. She told me, "Oh yeah? Prove it."

At two and almost four years old, how can the innocence be gone? And how am I going to survive their teenage years?