by Mama Mabel
When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me that I could drive a wooden man crazy with my arguing. Now I understand what she meant. Yesterday, Ladybug figured out how to clearly say the word "no." It's now her favorite word. Sometimes she says it even when she means "yes" just for the fun of being contradictory. Then she can't figure out why I don't give her the cup of milk she rejected or I put up the toy the just refused. It's funny watching her figure of the cause and effect of the word "no."
The whole "no" thing came to a really funny culmination last night. Normally, we sing songs in the dark as the final step in our bedtime routine. After trying to teach her dad "Zacchaeus was a wee little man," we moved on to "Wheels on the Bus," a longtime favorite. Normally, she picks who each verse will be about and I repeat the name back to her to confirm. She'll then change her mind, sometimes going through half a dozen names before settling on one, after which we sing the verse together. This time it was different. After finally getting it across in her limited vocabulary that she wanted to sing the song by herself, she went through a few verses in which she'd announce someone's name then singsong the sound or phrase we've made up for them. All was going smoothly until the indecisiveness started. She would announce the next person (or animal) then quickly nix it and call out a new name. It became an endless loop that went something like this:
"Papaw. No! Honey! No, no! Mama. Mama (repeated contently as if this was the one). NO! Chip! Dada! No. Mapaw(?)! Honey! No, no, Dada. No. Dada! NO! Miss Kitty!!"
Eventually she argued herself to sleep. All in all, it was a smooth bedtime.
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