Our son has managed to add a very powerful word to his vocabulary. The induction of this one word changes our lives forever. At first, a few days back, I mistook his pronunciation for the word "SNOW." But somehow, the word SNOW does not appear to be a correct reply to the following statements I make: "Jackson, it's time for a nap now. Let's go get ready. Or, "Jackson, hold still while I shoot this saline spray up each of each nostrils so you can breathe." Nope, the word is definitely not SNOW. It is a dirty little word that starts with N and ends with O.
Jackson is in full use of this new word which is incredibly powerful. "NO." At times, he sees that it can evoke frustration in his parents, utter complacency if we had given up, or a fight to the bitter end. The word NO brings along a whole family of new words with it - it brings along the need to explain things, in great detail. If he says "NO" to sinus spray, I go into a whole long story about how it will make him breathe better. I spray it into my own nose. I spray it in the air. I let him spray it in Patsy's nose. And, then, against all his will and whining NOs, I spray it in his nose anyway. Why? Because I am the mom and I know best. He'll figure it out someday when he has a child of his own.
So we begin the new phase in our lives. The obstinate toddler phase which I prefer to call the "striving for independence phase". Placing a positive spin on it makes it all easier to swallow. This is a point when he realizes he has a say in this world. He can change outcomes with the utterance of a single, yet ohhhh so powerful, word. It figures that the word "NO" would be easy for children to say. Why couldn't "NO" be pronounced like vegetable or supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus for that matter. It would delay the inevitability and keep them angelic infants for a longer while. On the contrary, "NO" is a simple, two letter word with extreme ease to pronounce. It has begun to flood our world - hold on tight, cause we are in for a wild ride ahead!
