The NO World, AKA: Toddlerhood!

Toddlerhood. As a mother of two adorable little toddler girls who have entered toddlerhood, I stop myself before I say no when my first instinct is to say it. These poor little girls, if I did say no when my brain told me to that is all they would hear. Instead I avoid the word no as much as possible. I stop and think to myself how would I feed if someone told me no all time? Or even wonder why the world is made up of all no words? I even wonder to myself, how does this make them confident when all I say is no? It’s the ongoing battle a mother of a toddler goes through day in and day out. I see it especially my younger one, who is 15 months old. Right now she mimics everything and want her voice to be heard, especially even more that she is a second child. If I said no all the time that is what I would hear out of her all the time and toddlers already start off saying no enough, as a parent I don’t want to encourage it more and more.

Make Your Home Kid Friendly

So what do I do instead? Number one and most importantly I make our home kid friendly and take them to fun places to play that are kid friendly. With my home kid friendly they have toys to play with and have a less chance of danger, which makes me, say no less to them. Secondly, is giving them a yes place in a no environment. The perfect example of this is a tableware cabinet in a kitchen. This gives them a safe cabinet to play in a room that is filled with a bunch of no areas.  Lastly is letting them know what they can do, not what they can’t do. For example, if my toddler throws a hard toy, I calmly say, we don’t throw blocks. We can go throw a ball if you would like. I then get a ball out to play catch.

Is Your Toddler Living in a “No World?”

So next time you want to say no nonstop, stop yourself! Imagine being a toddler living in a no world.  Choose another way to tell them and enjoy this fun age of nonstop excitement! The best thing about parenthood is that we learn as much from the children as they learn from us!
Happy Yes-ing!

Originally posted on Make My Baby Smile

Visit them on Twitter and Facebook