Thu 14 Jun 2007
Aliens Kidnapped My Sweet Baby
Posted by Liza under The Real Live Boy
And replaced him with a toddler who likes to scream “NO!” in response to any and all questions asked, including:
- Do you want to get up?
- Do you want to stay in bed?
- Do you want some juice?
- Do you want an apple/some yogurt/dinner/crackers?
- Do you want to wake up mommy?
- Do you want to go downstairs?
- Do you want to go outside?
- Do you want to come inside?
- Do you want to get down?
- Do you want to get in the bath?
- Do you want to get out of the bath?
- Do you want your car?
- Do you want your blanket?
- Do you want a ball?
- Do you want a book?
I think my baby is still in there. Once in a while, this shrieking toddler stops and runs full tilt at me for a “ug” and a “tiss” but if I hold on too long, the “Noooooo, Mommy!” comes right back.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Oh, oh, ooooooooooooooooh! Oh honey! Aliens kidnapped your sweet baby and replaced him with… his toddler doppelganger!
O, o, o, Saints preserve you! Buckle up! Plant a valerian bush in the back yard and chew it daily! O, o, o.
I swear, our lil’ monkey is taking hits off the same bong as Noah. Pure crazed contrariness. I ask her (after a string of reasonable questions like you’ve listed), “Do you want to breathe oxygen?” “Noooooo!”
If it helps any, we’re several months into the crazed doppelganger phase, and it’s evening out a little. That, or we’re rolling with it better.
Oh. I’m so sorry that all I can say is Oh. But my heart is with you all. At least you have a blog and you can threaten to pull archived posts out and read it back to him on his prom night while you have him and his date strapped to the couch.
June 15th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Ah the first expressions of independence!! They told me you wouldnt start with the “terrible twos until you were actually two; not true. Noah may be following in the family tradition.
(Not to mention what always seemed to me to be mimicry; I just know I said “No” more than anything else.) Not to worry; this will pass and the straightforward “Noooo” will be replaced with more devious conduct–like secretely eating leaves/books/sticks, hoping Mom doesnt notice.
Another alternative (which is only a tiny bit less frustrating since for a while “Noooo” is a generic response to almost everything)is to simply announce what is going to happen: We are going outside; we are going to the park; we are going to wake mommy; we are going to take a bath. He still has plenty of chances to make choices (Carrots or peas? NO. OK, we are having corn. Ice cream? No, OK, Mommy will eat it)
Who “no’s” what will happen next?
Love, Grandma
June 15th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Forget the terrible twos. It’s the attack of the terrible ones! There’s something horrifying and absolutely adorable about it all at once, isn’t there?
Had to pop in and say hi. Hi! :O)
June 15th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
When my cousin’s older kid went into that phase she drew on her degree in early childhood development and explained that he was figuring out boundaries, and that what degrees of separation were possible and safe and not so good and so on, and that what seems from an adult perspective to be ornery contrariness is in fact a perfectly normal process of trying to figure out a set of rules he’s only just developed the brain power to understand even exist.
Choices were (and still are) very big in her house, like your mom was just illustrating. My cousin advocates them as a great way to leave kids some feeling of agency without letting them have control.
June 15th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Dude? Grandma’s advice above? TOTALLY taking it.
I now will ANNOUNCE everything. Before giving my 15-month-old son his free will, I’m taking it away–or at least creating the ILLUSION of free will.
Does this make me a mean mommy?
June 15th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Good ideas, Grandma!
Reno, we do a lot of that, and mostly it helps. Getting dressed is a lot easier now that I offer 2 outfits, for example. I might have to see if that works offering 2 diapers.
Usually the simple query is in response to some kind of “Eh! Eh!” or “Dat! Dat?” where it isn’t so much that I’m offering something as that he’s asking for something, I just don’t know what.
June 17th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Hi Molly! I think you nailed it and I’m glad you came by — sorry it took so long to moderate your comment.