The two-year-old learned a new word. No. She used it incessantly. No. The dark-haired child crossed her arms and stamped her foot. No. No. No. Then, cried when scolded. From her, ‘no’ was not allowed.

It is nap time. Yes. Yes. Yes.

No.

She was a darling, sweet child when not cranky. But lacking a nap she was cranky. Turning her fierce ‘no’ to ‘yes’ was challenging.

“I’ll lie down with you,” her mother said.

“No.”

“Come on, sweetie. Mommy’s tired. You don’t have to take a nap but Mommy wants one. You can stay awake while I sleep. Will you do that for Mommy?”

“I don’t want a nap,” the child insisted.

“You don’t have to but please lie down with me, honey. I want to snuggle up.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Mother and daughter walked into the bedroom, hand in hand, and snuggled up on the bed. Within minutes the child was asleep.

Now I have a few minutes of quiet time by myself, the woman thought to herself. Alone by myself with no one to disturb me while I find my inner voice. The voice she had been denied for so long.

She took her pad and pencil and got comfy in her recliner and wrote. She wrote about the new word Charlotte learned today to express her budding sense of self.

No. Why is this word learned so well in life and its opposite is so often denied?

“No, you mustn’t touch that.”

“No, you mustn’t say that.”

“No, you mustn’t sit there.”

“No, you mustn’t make rude noises.”

“No, you mustn’t think that.”

Oh, yes, I can!