Django said the word "no" for the first time tonight. Clear as a bell. I pretended it didn't happen.He wasn't actually saying no to decline or resist anything in particular. It seemed more like he just wanted to show me he knew how to say it, or perhaps, to feel the raw power of it in his mouth. Still, I found myself needing an extra minute to adjust to this new world order. The scene that flashed in my mind was sort of a cartoon-ish version of Adam & Eve in the the Garden of Eden having just tasted the forbidden fruit, the caption reading simply, "Uh-oh."
It wasn't too hard to feign a response to Django's first "no" because he's been saying a couple other words that resemble it -- noodle (which sounds like new-no) and stroller (which sounds like no-new) -- and we had just strolled in from outside with take-out chow mein noodles for dinner. But I knew, for certain, he wasn't talking about either.
I realize it's important to pick your battles. I try, I really do. But I regularly catch myself in the middle of battles I suddenly realize I never meant to 'pick' and, moreover, it'd be FAR more productive to avoid -- like the one pictured here, over whether or not I was going to open a brand new toothbrush for Django to claim, making it the fourth in his household collection.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? Your kid loves toothbrushes, hooray for you! They're not dangerous, inappropriate, breakable or expensive in the grand scheme of things -- and for someone who's dentally challenged as a role model (see earlier post) you think I'd be on the lookout for any opportunity to encourage a love of tooth-related hygiene. But there I was, arguing with him over it. And you can see that he was totally clear on what it was, and why he wanted it open. I forgot, for a moment, to think about the bigger picture.
If there's any one word in the history of words that causes people -- by which I mean, me -- to immediately cease metacognition, it's got to be the word "no." The fact that Django just mastered saying it means that I, again, have my own developmental leap to make.
2 comments:
Dj has to be one of the most photogenic babies EVER!
Have I ever told you, that when asked a question where my answer is a "no" - I sometimes just answer with "no" and that's it. It's really interesting to watch people's reactions to just the responce of the word "no" and no other verbal follow-up... I've found that most people are waiting for reason to follow the "no." Try it!
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