Arguing and arguing and arguing and arguing....

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Hi All:Help! My 8 yo son's habit of arguing with absolutely everything anyone says is starting to drive me completely out of my mind. It seems to be getting exponentially worse, as is my ability to cope with it.I understand that doesn't realize that he's arguing, but I don't know how to teach him that answering back to every statement with "Yes but..." is perceived as argumentative.Here's a simple example. Yesterday we went Christmas shopping. On the way into the mall, I gave a dollar to "Give to the people who are ringing the Salvation Army bell." His response: "But Mom there's only one person ringing the bell."Me: "Oh, okay.": "But Mom, if there's only one person there why did you say

PEOPLE?"Me: ", I made a mistake. I thought there was another person there.": "But Mom, why did you think there was more than one person there?"Me: ", do you by any chance have a gun on you so I can shoot myself in the head and end this conversation before my head explodes?"Okay I didn't say that last line, but I sure wanted to. How do I cope with this? Please you magical wonderful people give me some advice on what I should do! I know he's not being malicious and he doesn't understand that he's arguing. But he has to learn, and I don't know how to teach him.Help!Patti