Dr. "No!"

Nope, it's not James Bond week on The Family Room. It's our new nickname for Isaac, whose response to pretty much any question these days is a resounding "No!"

"Let's go to the potty," I'll say. ("No!")
"Time for bed." ("No!")
"Do you want a banana?" ("No!" And then, five seconds later, "I want a banana.")

After a string of these, J. will ask playfully, "How about a big bowl of....No?" ("No!" Isaac responds, giggling). We're Nowhere, in No-land, on a slow boat to No-ville. I may write a song about it.

So this is one of the things that makes me a little nuts. I am excited, hopeful, reassured at the age-appropriateness of it all. I am annoyed, tired, crabby at the age-appropriateness of it all. I am also anxious about the rigidity and frequency and spectruminess of it all. (New word alert: if Stephen Colbert can coin "truthiness," I can certainly coin "spectruminess," don't you think?)

So then this morning I was all set for another episode of "I don't want to go to school! I want to stay home!" And then the lovable scamp completely threw me for a loop when he announced that he wanted to see "B," (one of his teachers) and skipped along happily down the street, ran into the classroom, and promptly said goodbye.

And there you have it. Gaslighted by a four-year-old.

Comments

[Niksmom]

Gaslighted indeed! I don't think the "No!" is so spectrummy or rigid. I think that is a perectly natural part of a child testing limits and discovering the power of self-determination. Some do it at two, some much later. I see it as a positive step and wonder if the simple tincture of time will sort this one out.

[Vicki Forman]

Spectrummy. I love it.