Well we're on the road to recovery (except TubaDad, who we mercilessly infected this weekend) and I just wanted to thank you all for your good wishes and emphathy. Whooeeeeee. Anyhow, now that the illness is fading, I have a serious question for y'all: how do you teach your toddler that "no means no"? Or is it just a pipe dream at this age?
We've babyproofed most of the area they're in all day, but there are a couple of things we can't get around. Like a few lamps so we're not groping around in the dark, some tantalizing cords that connect us to our precious electronics, that kind of thing. We've already banished the poor houseplants to a kid-free zone. (I know I said I wasn't going to move them, I was just going to teach the kids to leave them alone. But it was a
really bad day and I couldn't take it anymore. Let's just pretend it never happened.)
So anyhow, the girls are 15-months old now. And when we say "no" it's like we're saying "here's the best candy in the world - have at it, about 800 times in a row. Isn't it delicious and hilarious?!" The word "no" has somehow become a magnet to them and all they want to do for the next 10 hours is peck away at the forbidden item (and my sanity).
So do we:
A) Give up until they're older and just keep moving everything out of the room until only kid-proof items are left?
or
B) Suck it up and keep trying to teach them "no." Leave the rooms the way they are so there are a couple of forbidden items. They'll eventually get it and stop torturing me (and I
probably won't maim anyone in the meantime...)
Any tips out there in blogland?
Help!
PS: to leave you with a funny picture, we had to do an emergency diaper change in the parking lot of Whole Foods and when I came back from dumping the toxic bag in the trashcan, this is what I saw - TubaDad is attending to bizness in the back of the van, and my mom is standing in the van keeping the other twin amused. Yes this is my village, and it's a good one.
Oh, and in case you saw us at the mall this week, I should confess that yes it's true I took the girls to the germ pit (aka: the kid's play area in the mall) after they already got colds. Well shoot, they were already sick, it was finally a safe place to take them. Ok, ok, everyone say it at once: bad mama!!!
I posted a few more pictures with captions here if anyone's bored.
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