The word "no"

I wrongly assumed a lot of things about raising children prior to having one. One of those wrong assumptions was that children said the word "no" a lot because they heard it a lot. I have now revised my view on that.

Elijah loves the word "no" and I think it's mostly because it's a fun word to say. It's not hard to put all the sounds together and it quite clearly communicates your point.

However, he doesn't really know how to use the word. Ask him a question and he's likely to say "no". Are you hungry? No. (But ask him if he wants a banana and he's sure to toddle off to the kitchen in search of said fruit.) Do you want to read a book? No. (And then he toddles off to get a book.)

We have tried not to use the word "no" to avoid this little trap we've gotten into. We say things like other 21st Century parents "we don't do that" or "let's choose another activity". Apparently you can't avoid the word no.

And to be quite honest, it's funny. He says things with such conviction that if you didn't know better, you'd be quite certain that he felt strongly about the topic.

Oh well, as we've been saying for the past year and a half, this too shall pass.