The “No” Word

It is no mystery why our children love the word “no” so much. From as early as they start crawling, they are hearing this word muttered constantly. “No! Don’t touch that.” “No, don’t hit the dog.” “No, you can’t have cake for breakfast!” No wonder the experts tell you not to use the “no” word to reprimand your child. As much as I try, it is instinctual the first word that comes out of my mouth when my daughter is about to do something that she shouldn’t.

So, “No” it is. It is the answer to every question or statement. It is the answer even when the answer is actually yes.

“Are you Mai?”

“NO!”

Huh? That is so weird. I could have sworn that you were my daughter Mai.
There are variations on this as well. “No, not yet.” & ” No, I fine.” are two other popular responses in our home. It is amazing that I can even elicit a “No” by simply looking at her.

“No!”

“But, Mommy didn’t say anything.”

I forgot to mention that my daughter can read minds.

Sometimes the no contradicts itself…

“Do you want to go to bed?”

“No”

“Do you want to stay awake?”

“No”

Is there an option between asleep & awake? Hmmm? Let me guess… “NO!”

Filed under: Life Tagged: family, kids, no, parenting, toddler, two year old