How many times must I tell you no!
September 4th 2007 21:46
It must be the most overused phrase in any parents vocabulary and "no" seems to get more popular as your children grow.
My little girl is 16 months old, and I must use the word no about 50 or so times a day.
It doesn't seem to matter how many items I move out of her reach, she will still always find one more thing that she isn't allowed. Resulting in the familiar, "no sweetheart, you mustn't touch that" speach that I know off by heart and more than likely repeat in my sleep like the greater parent chant.
Not that chating it with all my might constantly makes me a greater parent than anyone else. I maintain to anyone that asks that I am a fully paid, life member of the bad mothers club.
I wake in a morning and immediately think "She's quiet, what is she up to?" This leads me to jump out of bed and canter into her room in a blind panic that she has been doing something really naughty, and I usually find that it is only around 4am and she is still asleep.
I didn't know that it was possible until now, but she has reached the terrible twos already.
Yes, apparantly it can happen anytime between the age of 1 and 3 years. Your child begins to assert their authority over you. The hard thing is to teach them that they can be as independent as they like as long as they realise that you are the boss. It's one big contradiction really. A basic case of, darling you can do whatever you want, as long as you sit within this little cube of good behaviour and don't leave. Nice, eh?!
Then come the tantrums, and not your common or garden ones either. Your adorable baby turns into el diablo right in front of your eyes, without warning and with terrifying results.
Just a week or so ago I took lil one to the shops to get some new shoes. Travelling there and on entry to the shop she was the sweetest angel known to man. She smiled nicely at everyone she saw and sat quite happily in her pushchair saying "hiya" to the shop assistant who was measuring another childs feet.
The children's footwear section was very busy as it was almost time for the new term beginning. So I picked up a few pairs and began trying them on lil ones feet. She was sat there smiling as I tried on each pair, and when I found one that fitted well and looked nice she reached for them to take a closer look, or so I thought.
The second the shoe reached her fingertips I saw the horns appear on her head (not literally of course, but all mothers will know exactly what I mean) and she literally threw the shoe at my face. Her eyes scrunched up and the loudest, most piercing scream came from her mouth.
The whole shop went silent, or so it seemed, as people looked in the direction of my now crying and struggling one year old. Well, I dropped the shoes and ran out of there, red faced and vowing never to enter a shop again.
It's time for some tough love I think!
My little girl is 16 months old, and I must use the word no about 50 or so times a day.
It doesn't seem to matter how many items I move out of her reach, she will still always find one more thing that she isn't allowed. Resulting in the familiar, "no sweetheart, you mustn't touch that" speach that I know off by heart and more than likely repeat in my sleep like the greater parent chant.
Not that chating it with all my might constantly makes me a greater parent than anyone else. I maintain to anyone that asks that I am a fully paid, life member of the bad mothers club.
I wake in a morning and immediately think "She's quiet, what is she up to?" This leads me to jump out of bed and canter into her room in a blind panic that she has been doing something really naughty, and I usually find that it is only around 4am and she is still asleep.
I didn't know that it was possible until now, but she has reached the terrible twos already.
Yes, apparantly it can happen anytime between the age of 1 and 3 years. Your child begins to assert their authority over you. The hard thing is to teach them that they can be as independent as they like as long as they realise that you are the boss. It's one big contradiction really. A basic case of, darling you can do whatever you want, as long as you sit within this little cube of good behaviour and don't leave. Nice, eh?!
Then come the tantrums, and not your common or garden ones either. Your adorable baby turns into el diablo right in front of your eyes, without warning and with terrifying results.
Just a week or so ago I took lil one to the shops to get some new shoes. Travelling there and on entry to the shop she was the sweetest angel known to man. She smiled nicely at everyone she saw and sat quite happily in her pushchair saying "hiya" to the shop assistant who was measuring another childs feet.
The children's footwear section was very busy as it was almost time for the new term beginning. So I picked up a few pairs and began trying them on lil ones feet. She was sat there smiling as I tried on each pair, and when I found one that fitted well and looked nice she reached for them to take a closer look, or so I thought.
The second the shoe reached her fingertips I saw the horns appear on her head (not literally of course, but all mothers will know exactly what I mean) and she literally threw the shoe at my face. Her eyes scrunched up and the loudest, most piercing scream came from her mouth.
The whole shop went silent, or so it seemed, as people looked in the direction of my now crying and struggling one year old. Well, I dropped the shoes and ran out of there, red faced and vowing never to enter a shop again.
It's time for some tough love I think!
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Comment by Sarah White
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Children, they bring so much joy but heck they sure do test us! I might start using the word No in different languages.
Take Care.
Sarah. xxx