Like most almost 21-month olds, J has discovered how much fun it is to say "no!" to everything. EVERYTHING. Even things he really, really wants. I knew it was getting bad when his daycare report last Thursday said, "J was well-behaved this week as always. However his new favorite word is no." Last night it was kinda funny, kinda sad watching him struggle with this newfound independence at the dinner table. We had ravioli with chicken meatballs, which he usually likes. He got into his booster seat on his own and kept saying "eat!" while I was cooking. But when I put the bowl in front of him, before he even looked at it he pushed it away and said, "NO!" Then he watched me intensely while I ate mine, and pulled his bowl back over. And then pushed it away again. "NO!" So I started to run down the list of things that normally are sure-fire favorites.
"Do you want cereal?"
"NO!"
"How about a hot dog?"
"No! (pause to think about it). No."
"Oatmeal?"
"....No?"
"Green beans, mac n' cheese, yogurt?"
"No. No. NO!"
"Juice?"
"Noooo."
"Seriously? You're saying no to juice? Your own personal crack? And you're saying no. How conflicted you must be...."
Finally we settled on "cocoa" which is basically warmed up chocolate milk. I know. He had chocolate milk for dinner. But how do you force a kid to eat? He's already picky to begin with, so hopefully this phase won't last long.
Practice makes perfect
14 years ago
3 comments:
This made me smile, because X went through the exact same phase for a while when he was that age. It's like the power of saying "no" is too much to resist, even when it's something you really want. But this one passes pretty quickly - they find out soon enough that it's not worth it to miss out on the things they like! And at least he's not saying "Mine!":)
Nate is the one saying "no" to everything in our house right now. Love it. I don't even ask him what he wants because I'm so tired of hearing no, ha ha!
try no times 2...lol
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