NO!


For a while, we had a new "word of the day" nearly every day. One day it was "yummy," another it was "bike," and another it was "tickle." Now the word of the week, or maybe month, seems to be "NO!"

Teshale started out communicating this concept with the Amharic word "ai," pronounced "eye." He eventually switched to "eh-eh, eh-eh," which I was grateful for at the time, because I much preferred being told "eh-eh" to being hit or punched. He was using his words, as we say so often to children of all ages.

Then for some reason it became "nay," which I always see in my mind as "nae," probably because it goes so well with his "thank-ee" which to me sounds so middle English or Scottish, or something along that line.

We worked long and hard to get him to make that long 'o' sound. "Ooooo," we'd say and have him repeat it with us. Once he'd get that right, we'd then put it with the 'n' in an Electric Company kind of way. "N, o -- no." We knew he was getting it the day he invented a 'no' song, with the word 'no' sung repeatedly to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

He finally got it got it about a week ago, and ever since then it's been the word of the day, every day. Our conversations go like this:

Me: You need to get dressed for school.
T: NO!
Me: Yes you do.
T: NO!
Me: I'm going to leave the room now and trust that you'll get dressed.
T: NO! (but he does)

Me: Are you hungry?
T: NO!
Me: Would you like something to eat?
T: NO!
Me: How about a banana?
T: NO!
Me: Ok, let me know if you change your mind.
T: NO!
(1 - 2 minutes later) T: Banana!

Me: What toy do you want to bring to school today?
T: NO!
Me: You don't want to bring a toy today?
T: NO! (but he gets one)

Or, we have scenarios like the one yesterday, where I picked up a happy child from school and had a nice drive home, until....we pulled into our neighborhood. No sooner do we turn the corner off the main road, then I hear from the back seat a defiant, "NO!"

Me: No?
T: NO!
Me: You don't want to go home to Teshale's house?
T: NO!
Me: Really?
T: NO!
Me: You don't want to watch tv?
T: NO!
Me: Really, you don't want to watch tv?
T: NO!

So, apparently he's not done vacillating between being one and being four. Like a one-year-old, he's discovered the most powerful word in a young child's arsenal; NO! Our social worker said the good thing about this developmental process is that he'll go through the phases much more quickly than they do when they go through at the typical age. We can only hope! In the meantime, I just try to keep a good sense of humor about it. "This too shall pass...." right?

NO!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Autumn Leaves -- Too Quickly

Image
When I was younger, fall was my favorite season. It seemed, as I day-dreamed out the school windows, that the crimsons, golds, and fiery oranges were a painted canvas to be enjoyed for weeks on end. Now the leaves are a fleeting show of glorious colors one weekend only to be ripped off by a windstorm the next, leaving us to stare at a world of gray and white for the next seven months. Perhaps if I actually had a window to look out while working, I could contentedly watch the season ease into into its show throughout the weeks of September and October, until finally exploding into the grand finale -- and not feel so cheated when the leaves are so unceremoniously flung to the ground to make way for the coming snow. Oh, autumn, to quote Marvell: "...yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found..." So while I was at Green Lakes over the weekend, I took time to just soak in the colors, albeit with a five year old at my side peppering m
Read more

What's Working

Claudia at  My Fascinating Life  wants to know what's working in our lives. I've been pondering this for several weeks now. A lot of things are not working the way they should be. My resolve to exercise more has been thwarted first by getting my period every other week over the course of five weeks -- the HRT pills were NOT working -- and then a recalcitrant and painful case of the shingles in my hip, which means no running or biking. This of course means my resolve to lose weight is not working either -- and doesn't bode well for an early triathlon attempt. My one word for this year "declutter" is not working out at all as I'd hoped. I started with the kitchen table. I get it decluttered. Two days later....back to square one. Not being able to recycle the hundreds of papers that come home from kindergarten when a certain child is around to see what is going on doesn't help. But this is supposed to be a posting about what is working. So here goes: Tim
Read more

Adopting the Older Child -- Part 4: Power Struggles

Image
The stairs at the right of the photo were the site of one of our early power struggles -- T wanted to jump from the platform, and I didn't want to him cracking open his skull. "I don't like you. You mean." I hear that a lot, typically in response to things like "Time to pick up your toys," or "You need to take your vitamin," or "It's time to get dressed for school," or "Time to brush your teeth." Basic, every day power struggle stuff. T wants to keep playing, doesn't want to go to school, doesn't like any of his clothes, doesn't understand why he needs to brush his teeth twice a day every day, and most definitely does not want to take those yucky vitamins. He even rebels at being called to the dinner table. I try to avoid power struggles by using the options approach: "It's time to get ready for school -- do you want to get dressed first or brush your teeth first?" Or, "It's time to get
Read more