I knew there had to be a catch....

The downside to a highly intelligent, verbal child, is that they use your words (and methods) against you.

To wit:

Last night, M was giving Monkey a bath. When it was time to depart the tub, she declined. After much negotiation, M initiated the "count-down" to a time-out. (As in, I'm going to count down from 5 and if you haven't done [whatever] by the time I finish, you get a time-out). Usually this works like a charm.

But, last night it didn't work.

Upon hearing his pronouncement, mid-count, Monkey turned to M and said:

"I appreciate [your offer of a time-out], but I'm not done with my work here."