April 26, 2007

Jeopardy or Is it phrased in the form of a question?

We have reached a seminal moment here at the Childsplayx2 household. For the past almost-two years we have spoken to Swee’Pea and TheMonk in a cute, high energy way that is often phrased in the form of a question. This has not been a problem since we never received any response. It was understood that these questions were, indeed, NOT requests and we would be doing what the parent suggested.

That has all changed.

The word “No” has entered into the lexicon here at our household as these two little ones have finally figured out that they have a mind of their own and that free will is a pretty damn good thing. In fact, the word “No” is such a good word, they say it twice.

Examples include:

Me: “Are you ready to go to bed?”
TheMonk: “No, No.”

Me: “Would you like to give your brother one of the toys you’re hoarding holding?”
Swee’Pea: “No. No.”

Me: “Can we please put on your shoes and leave before we make Daddy late for work and he gets fired?”
Both: “No. No.” (accompanied by emphatic head shakes)

So, we are having to reprogram our minds to utter demands rather than requests which, admittedly, is taking some getting used to.

Let me see if I have this down…

“It’s time for bed, suckas! Mommy and Daddy need a break!”

“It’s either ‘share the toy’ or ‘time out’ – your choice.”

“Get your shoes on! Come back here! I said, come back here! Please! Please?!”

Okay, maybe I still have some work to do.

6 Comments

  1. Ain’t it grand??

    You might enjoy the little video I posted today of my son when he was 22 months old. It’s a pisser, as we say in Brooklyn.

    Comment by panthergirl — April 26, 2007 @ 4:30 pm

  2. CONGRATULATIONS! I’ve posted “STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!!” rants before, because this is SUCH a common pattern.

    Top of the class for you guys.

    Your, ah, style might need a bit of polishing, though…

    Comment by Mary P — April 27, 2007 @ 4:52 am

  3. In linguistics class, we used to call these “imperatives.” :) I use them all the time at home. My kids have learned certain Japanese phrases – because somehow, they take me seriously when I’m issuing a demand in Japanese than in English. Maybe they think it’s a secret code?

    “No” is Tad’s favorite word, followed up by “car.” Put them together and that’s what I’ll be saying when he’s sixteen!

    Comment by Deanna — April 30, 2007 @ 9:35 am

  4. Ah yes, the NO. :)

    I like Deanna’s idea of saying it in Japanese. Perhaps it sounds more forceful this way. Of course “Go to bed you suckahs” works too.

    Comment by Kari — April 30, 2007 @ 12:36 pm

  5. “It’s either ’share the toy’ or ‘time out’ – your choice.”

    I like that! It’s all about choice!

    Comment by Aina — April 30, 2007 @ 5:58 pm

  6. Nothing ever works…threats…demands…Goodness God has cursed me with a miny me…what have I done to deserve this! I can’t wait for the blog that is titled “WHY WONT THEY SHUT UP!!!!” OR “DON”T THEY EVER GET TIRED OF TALKING” OR better yet..”WHY DOESN”T ‘BECAUSE I SAID SO’ WORK!!!!”

    Comment by Gyamfua — May 3, 2007 @ 7:16 am

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