Imagine singing the ABC song. You know how it goes: “No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! … A, B, B, C, no, no, No!” It was early morning and our granddaughter was awake, happily singing in her room. So she changed the words a bit. Can you tell that she’s almost two?

In spite of her choice of lyrics, our sweetie really isn’t that big on the “N” word. Most kids that age are just discovering the power of “NO!” and they use it liberally. If we start singing “Yes, yes, yes” to her, she’ll sing along just as cheerfully.

She does have her moments, however. “Do you want the pink shirt or the purple shirt?” “NO!” “You must be hungry—do you want a banana?” “NO!” (while eagerly making the sign for “banana” and grabbing her bib). And of course, there’s the biggie, “It’s time for your nap, Sweetie.” “NO!!!!”

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