Thursday 8 November 2012

N.O! - NO!

I'm a primary school teacher. I can pull 30 kids into line all at once if I wanted to (on a good day) but I seriously have no idea how to deal with this...





I'm on some strange quest to avoid the word 'no'. I'm so paranoid if I keep saying 'no' it's going to backfire and all I'll hear is 'no, no, no, no!' when the little guy decides to build up his vocabulary. But you can't reason with a no-longer-a-baby-now-a-toddler can you? I can't say "No, but you can have..." or "No, but how about we...?" So what is there to say or do? Here is the choice I made:



I let him play with it. He was having way too much fun. What's a roll of toilet paper anyway?


Do you find yourself saying 'no' every 5 seconds? What's the alternative for a little being?

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11 comments:

  1. I know what you mean. I'm sick of being a broken record of 'no', but sometimes, it has to be said. But that toilet paper does look like fun. At least that's a mess that is easily tidied up!

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  2. What's 1 roll of toilet paper? When you're down to the last sheet & gastro is going around you'll remember that roll. Lol. If you dont want your kid to touch- put a lock on it, shut it, put it up- because they understand 'no' at a young age, but they also know how to put on the charm as they push the limits

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  3. With our first I was always saying NO. When the second came along my mother in-law gave me some great advice, she said not to say no but use a different word & a look to go with it. My daughter now points her finger at me & shakes her head when she gets in trouble.
    Prue x

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  4. I completely agree, there are some things that just aren't worth the constant no, particularly if they are well within reach all the time! My toddler LOVES pulling all the wipes and tissues out of boxes, so instead of stopping the fun, I bought some $1 boxes of tissues (you know the ones that will make your nose bright red just from using them once) for her entertainment.

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  5. I let them play with it too.

    I often 'choose my battles', some are just not worth the stress.

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  6. Mia hasn't progressed to the toilet paper yet, but only because I keep the bathroom door closed religiously so she can't get in there! She does love to pull tissues out of the box so I just went with and let her do it, and when she is done pick up all the tissues and stuff them back in the box. Cheapest toy ever and makes her happy.

    I too struggle to find a different word to use other than 'No'. It already has no effect on her, but when I go "uh, uh, uh!" when she is doing something that is dangerous, well, she knows I mean business then and stops doing it!

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  7. You know what, just say no. He's going to need to hear it, and going to need to accept it. He may say it back to you, but you don't have to tolerate it. Just let him know it's not ok to say no to mum.
    Honestly it seems harder, but speaking from experience, it's easi in the long run!

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  8. haha, I very much relate to this, I'm a teacher too and have no trouble with my class of six year olds. One two year old? Enough to reduce me to tears some days. Oi.

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  9. Honestly, No is not so bad a word. They are going to learn it at some stage but I can totally understand feeling like it is all you say. I pick my battles and am known to let some things slide but hey I have three kids and only one set of eyes and hands to deal with it all.

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  10. I think, like everything, it's all about moderation. I don't want to be that irate parent who never lets her child do anything, but I don't want to be a weak, permissive walk-over either. You pick your battles. I wish I knew how to get the balance right though!

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  11. I consciously avoided using No with my girls, it wasn't always easy, just lots of how about you do this or how about you stop that. Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses

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